Overview

Hello world! My name is Jimmy Skiff and I'm a singer-songwriter here in the beautiful city of Pittsburgh, PA.

I had a duo with a buddy doing covers of America and CSNY and our original tunes, and after graduation decided to move to LA in pursuit of a music career. I became a founding member of the Grammy nominated LA Jazz Choir and made a live recording at a Jazz Supper Club, Donte’s. Through my friendship with Prize fighter Irish Frankie Crawford I secured a meeting with Andre Fisher, Grammy Winning drummer and producer for Rufus and Chaka Chan. Andre was very kind and encouraging and expressed interest in a few of my songs for some European artists he was producing at the time. He told me to get some professional lead sheets done on a dozen of my songs, secure copyrights and come back and see him. This took some time to accomplish in 1975 as there was no internet. Everything was done via snail mail. By the time I secured copyrights, Rufus and Chaka Chan were on a two year world tour and were somewhere in Asia, impossible to reach. Meanwhile, my high school performing buddy, Dan Ferraro, was taking a class in recording engineering in Red Hook New York with Dave Moulton. Dave had a small label called Icarus Records. Dan had played some of my music for Dave and he liked my voice. He invited me to record a demo at his studio in Red Hook. He loved the demo and offered me a contract and I recorded my debut album, Flower and Sword, in 1978-79 at Dondisound Studios which Dave had recently equipped with the brand new Digital Audio Tape recording system.

I had the opportunity to record with some awesome musicians including Sonny Rollins, who was recording his debut album with Dave. Flower and Sword was ready to release in the spring of 1979 and would have been the first all digital commercial release in the world. Fleetwood Mac’s Tusk and Stevie Wonder's Secret Life of Plants were released that Fall. Dave Moulton decided to put Icarus Records on hold and he took a job running the Tone Meister (Recording Engineering) program at Fredonia SUNY and eventually the program at Berklee in Boston. Dave also recorded albums with Sonny Rollins Jonathon Edwards and received a Grammy for a classical recording. He released Flower and Sword to me with apologies for the demise of his label. I shopped it around to every record label in North America. I received many positive comments, but no takers. Meanwhile  the recording had opened doors for me in other places.

I also raised a family with my wife Carolyn whom I had met when she auditioned for one of my shows. In 2019 I began performing with my daughter Erin as The Skiffs. We recorded and released an EP Don’t Ask Questions and a full length album Inner City Jitters which I paid for myself, funded by my masonry business which I also ran for 32 years. I have since retired from masonry and am devoting my senior years to writing and creating music.

The material is ready, and the musicians are waiting -- this Plaid Dog campaign is the final step toward creating my first ever, professionally produced studio album.

This campaign is raising funds for my professionally recorded album with Carter Sanders  in Boston, MA. Carter is a seasoned Boston-based producer and engineer with experience working with both established and up-and-coming musicians. Together,  and I are digging into my original material, writing arrangements, and reaching out to local musicians to bring the songs to life. 

We’ve been able to cover the costs of recording and producing one song, which is ready for you to check out right here on this page. This first song is called “Rogue Wave,” and you can check it out below!

While I’ve been able to fund the recording process for "Rogue Wave” on my own, to create an album of songs of this quality, studio costs add up quickly. With that said, this campaign can give us a unique opportunity to collaborate and make great art together. Your donation will cover the following costs of my project:

1. Pre-Production: This is where everything starts.  and I will start crafting the arrangements for each song slated for the album. We’ll hold rehearsals to fine-tune the songs and arrangements and talk through new and exciting ideas for how to approach the recording process.

2. Recording: This is when we enter the studio and start capturing the music and where the songs become what you'll hear on this album. This campaign will play a huge role in making sure we have enough time to capture great performances for every member of the band.

3. Mixing & Mastering: Each track will get mixed to create the right balance between instruments, texture and color that make up a track. As a final step, the album will be mastered from beginning to end so that the listening experience is cohesive and carefully choreographed from start to finish.

And what will you get for your generosity and support? So many awesome things!

I am so appreciative and grateful for any support you can lend to this campaign. In exchange for your generosity, I've put together a really exciting group of gifts that are available exclusively through your participation in this campaign.

Check out some examples below and a full list to the right!

Music has this incredible ability to heal and unite people, to express feelings that help us feel connected in fundamental human ways. Though I create my songs in solitude, music, is for me, fundamentally a collaborative process- incredible musician and songwriting friends that have pushed me to be better, my classmates in highschool and college that were there for all my earliest performances, my family for giving me such a wide perspective on different types of music when I was young, my brilliant and wonderful wife Carolyn, who has shared my creative process and performed with me for over 40 years now, my children, Ben, Hannah and Erin who have shared the studio, the stage and many jam sessions around the dining room table and the campfire. Music is about community and connection, and I’ve shared musical experiences with so many people in my life. One of my hopes is that this project helps me find new collaborators in my network to make more music together.

While I have had the opportunity to collaborate with many fine musicians and actors, and built many structures in brick, block, stone and concrete as well as creating a number of plays, with your help and the fine artists and technicians at Plaid Dog, I hope to create a musical testament to perseverance, unity and 

Hope, that may serve to enlighten, educate and entertain. Thank You!

If you're ready to contribute, just click the "Back This Project" button on the top right of this page! Every little bit counts, and I’m so grateful for all your support.

If you have folks in your network that would be interested in supporting me, please feel free to share this page with them.

Thank you so much for checking out my campaign page. I can't wait to share this music with you.