Big Jim Calvin


“Exquisite, touching, hilarious, and profound.”
--Steve Fesenmaier, film reviewer, Graffiti

This short documentary has a large talent for its subject. Big Jim Calvin, a string wizard with the molasses baritone . . . a teller of tales . . . humorist, actor, composer. As Jim would say, he was just living life as art. His story is told through the eyes of his last two wives: Royann, who was his duo partner for many years, and Nan, who videotaped his every performance. George Gruhn, Nashville’s musical instrument authority also shares his observations of Jim for the last twenty years. This documentary follows Jim’s story from California performing with the New Christy Minstrels, to Jalisco, Mexico, to Nashville.