Bio

Jimmy with Andre Cymone

Jimmy Bayard is a premier electric guitarist from Houston, Texas. As a child he was influenced by several local Houston area guitar heroes and had the opportunity to play on stage in nightclubs around the area with the help of his parents who were also touring musicians. Jimmy picked up the violin around age 12, and just about every other stringed instrument including the cello, viola, double bass, mandolin, dobro, banjo, and steel guitar before finding his home as a guitarist.

With no formal instruction on guitar, Jimmy’s mastery of the instrument is a result of purposeful listening to greats like Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Johnson, Allan Holdsworth, Pat Martino, Robben Ford, Danny Gatton, Albert Collins, Freddie King, and countless others, mixed with his knowledge of music theory and dynamic “relative pitch” learned from 12 years of ferociously studying the violin.

Jimmy has contributed to numerous records as a session guitarist for Mercury Records and has performed all over the United States. He is also one of the most in-demand guitarists for bands affiliated with the "Minneapolis Sound" and was asked to be the house guitarist for the Official Prince Tribute After Parties by the half brother of Prince and the head of the PRN Family Omarr Baker (PRN Family = the Prince Rogers Nelson Family (PRN). His work with island/Def Jam and Mercury records is extensive an you can hear his work on some of the biggest hip hop and R&B recordings out of New York in the early 2000s.  Some of the artists Jimmy has recorded, toured, or played with include:

OTHER INTERNATIONAL ARTISTS

  • Aaron Neville

  • The Guess Who

  • Young Jeezy

  • Redman

  • Ramsey Lewis

  • American Idol & The Voice Star Mark Andrew

  • Salt n Pepa

  • Color Me Badd

  • Vanilla Ice

  • SWV

  • En Vogue

  • TLC

  • Parachute

  • Billy Gibbons

  • Roscoe Beck

  • Greg Koch

  • Lil Jon

  • Shawty Redd

  • Corey Stevens

MINNEAPOLIS SOUND

  • Prince

  • Alexander O'Neal

  • Andre Cymone (Prince)

  • New Power Generation (Prince)

  • Marva King (Prince, Stevie Wonder)

  • Shelby J (Prince)

  • Judith Hill (Prince)

  • Liv Warfield (Prince)

  • Martin Kember (Color Me Badd)

  • Dez Dickerson (Prince & The Revolution)

  • Apollonia (Prince)

  • Suanne Carwell (Prince)

  • Jill Jones (Prince)

  • Vanity 6/Apollonia 6 (Prince)

  • Jellybean Johnson (The Time/Janet Jackson/Alexander O'Neil)

  • GSharp & The Bizness (Prince, Jimmie Vaughan)

  • JayBee & The Routine (New Edition, Surface, New Kids on the Block)

  • Sonny Thompson (Prince/New Power Generation, Nick Jonas)

  • Michael Bland (Prince/New Power Generation, Nick Jonas, Soul Asylum)

  • Marvin OneGunn (Mazarati)

  • Craig Screamer (Mazarati)

  • Morris Hayes (New Power Generation/Prince/Mazarati)

  • Donna Grantis (Prince/3rd Eye Girl)

  • Paul Peterson (Prince, The Family, The Time)

  • Jason Peterson DeLaire (Prince, Michael Bolton)

  • Walter Chancellor Jr. (Prince)

  • TC Ellis (Prince)

  • Willie Walker

  • Larry Mitchell (Grammy Winner, Al Green, Boz Scaggs, JKC & The Sunshine Band, Michael McDonald, Doobie Brothers, John Mayer, Rod Stewart)

  • David Eiland (The Time)

Jimmy also released his first solo album “BLANC” in 2013 and many have called it one of the best albums in their collection.

Though still a Texan at heart and mind, Jimmy has found prodigious success in Minneapolis where he resides today and plays with several groups. If you are walking the streets of Minneapolis and hear Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Johnson, and Danny Gatton playing a show together – it may just be Jimmy Bayard pulling his old Tele out of the case and tuning up for a night of incredible live guitar work.

Come on in and see why guitarists all around say, “this guy puts on a clinic with that thing.”

Live Music Groups

You can catch Jimmy all over the US playing with these great live music groups:

  • GSharp & The Bizness (Minneapolis Sound)

  • JayBee & the Routine (Old School R&B/Minneapolis Sound)

  • Mark Andrew (Star of American Idol & The Voice)

  • The Sweatband (Original High Impact Funk)

  • BlueWater Kings (BWK) - Corporate Events exclusively

Guitars

Jimmy Endorses Fibernare guitars exclusively. These hand crafted instrument are made one at a time in Budapest, Hungary by the Benedek Brothers. Each instrument made one at a time by the hands of skilled craftsman, not by a computer.  The wood, and the pickups are chosen by hadn to be the most resonate and visual appealing pieces of wood availble in the modern world. Fibenare guitars are second to non and viewed as the best of the best in the guitar world. 

Amps & Effects

Source