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Serving Sun Valley, Ketchum, Hailey, Bellevue and Carey
James Alexander Paisley (aka Jimmy Paisley) a beautiful musician, an extraordinary cabinet maker, a sublime baker, darling husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle and friend, passed away at his longtime Bellevue home with his family by his side, on June 30, 2022. He was 68 years old.
Everyone has a Jimmy story. He was incredibly kind and generous. His birthday cakes were legendary and so were his apple pies, which he would make in multiples and then distribute to friends and neighbors; he lent a hand to everyone’s carpentry projects; he was always keen for an outdoor adventure with his kids; and was constantly inventing fun outings for friends and family, including his mom, Gerry.
He loved being outdoors—he would celebrate the full moon with Dutch oven dinners in the snow, and was recently married on horseback by the river last October. He was kind to all living beings—escorting spiders from the house to outside. And the outdoors inspired bursts of often amazing athletic feats: skate skiing in icy conditions at breakneck speed, faster than the dogs could keep up with, bicycling up and down mountains, and up to Ketchum and back to Bellevue on his unicycle. He took up Jiu-jitsu at 64! Even when he wasn’t pushing the limits he produced an impression of speed: he’d get into his 2003 Honda Element, aka “the toaster car,” and say “Are you ready? I’m gonna floor it!” He was a funny, natural performer, always wanting to share an interesting story or a witty joke. At age 12, he played guitar and sang with his brother Doug, and at the end of one memorable performance he turned his back to the audience and mimed with his own hands that someone was smooching and embracing him. This love for giving people pleasure propelled him into music but also into his baking career, when he made fresh sourdough at the Farmer’s Market on a portable bread oven of his own design and engineering. A genuine renaissance man, he saw further, sped faster, and burned brighter than the rest of us.
Jim grew up in Rocky River, Ohio, the third son of Gerry and Richard Paisley. In 1970, he moved West with his mom to Steamboat Springs, Colorado. After jobs on an oil rig and as a surveyor, he eventually settled in Salmon, Idaho. In the mid-eighties, he moved to Seattle for a few years and then to Bellevue at the beginning of the nineties, where he put down roots.
Working as a river guide out of Salmon, Jim met musical kindred spirits—Brooks Montgomery, Bill Hannah and Jim Perotto—and they formed the band The Lounge Primates. The Primates were the house band for the Owl Club bar and also played every venue they were invited to. Jim exploded musically in this seminal time, bringing in a jazz influence to the blues music they all loved. (His friend, Brooks, said of the Paisley brothers landing in Salmon, “It was like Cirque du Soleil came to town—pure hilarity!”)
Life moves pulled the Primates in different directions, but in Seattle, he met another musical soulmate, Fletcher Brock. For the next 20 years, he and Fletcher worked on a number of bands and projects, including the six-piece Lightning Rods, the Shims, and the trio Paisley, Larkey, and Brock. After Jim moved to Bellevue, he joined the Ketchum rock ‘n’ roll favorite, the Bobo’s, led by Mark Slocum and BBQ Bob. For almost 10 years, he was also the unofficial leader of The Private Parts, the back-up band for the campy musical comedy act, the Fabulous Vuarnettes—Linda Badell, Cheri Kessler, Callie Galpin and Heidi Bates. Over the years, his Bellevue home became a rehearsal space and center of a lively musical world. A quintessential session musician, Jim played backup for a variety of groups from Muzzy Braun to Lucia Comnes. And there were many side projects as well: a duo—Jim and Keith Joe Dick—became Dogie and the Boys (with Jim’s beloved dog, Dogie, starring in the act) that performed old cowboy songs; Bad Penny (with Lisa Anderson and Ken Martin), and the list goes on. Ever the searching musician, in the last decade he dedicated himself to learning Brazilian samba. As testament to his accomplishment, the singer Cintia Scola exclaimed “He plays like a Brazilian!” With Cintia, he formed the Bossa Nova Band, and, also with Cintia, created C’s Mountain School of Music in Hailey in 2016.
On a parallel track, through the years as a fine cabinetmaker and sole employee of House of Paisley, Jim constructed remodels on many job sites for many clients. He was consummate in his ability to tackle and solve a woodworking problem, always seeking the most interesting solution, the loveliest design. The more unusual the project, the more he was interested. With his wit, heart and mind, he inspired everyone working with him, crew and clients alike. Having a piece of his craftsmanship in your space is having a little bit of his spirit.
In the last few years, Jimmy taught himself how to make sourdough bread, and to absolutely no one’s surprise, he designed and built a must-see work-of-art mobile bread oven to bake the loaves in. With the help of local welders and the mason Alonzo Gil, Jimmy engineered a retained-heat oven, an entirely original design. Rise Bread is the cottage-industry bakery he formed with his wife, Mary. If you saw the oven parked next to their booth at the Hailey Farmer’s Market, chances are it was just moments before that you inhaled the sweet smell of the just-baked sourdough.
While most parents spend their days chasing around their children, Jim’s kids were doing their best to keep up with him. Some of them would joke, “I can’t tell you the amount of times I’ve lost him in Home Depot.” While notorious for maybe forgetting your birthday, he had a knack for finding a way to fill the simplest moments with outrageous laughter. And he was always keen to jump full-throttle into any project you may need help with–like turning the house into a recording studio for the summer, or teaching you to drive stick by leaping out of the moving car yelling “Floor it, baby!” Another such project was the famous potato gun–a three-foot long PVC pipe complete with a hairspray-fueled combustion chamber that was a fan favorite at many 4th of July parties. As a father, he instilled a deep sense of curiosity and independence in each of his kids–and maybe a little bit of mischief.
In Mary, he found someone who grounded him and bolstered his confidence in uncharted ways. They found each other late in life and discovered love with more depth and dimension than either had experienced before. He was sure-footed in his love for her. They knew what they had was profound and within that love, they accessed their best selves. He captioned a photo of a river outing together in a text to one of his kids: “old people having fun.”
Jim is survived by his wife, Mary Tyson; by his four children, Lucy Paisley, Joe Paisley, Max Paisley (Caitlin) and Ted Bond (Alora); eight grandchildren, Ziggy, Finn, Sutter, Ezra, Pepper, Jonas, Eliza, and Herbie; his brothers, John (Edith) and Doug (Karen); his nieces, Chloe, Maleah, Becca, and Rose and nephew, Rufus.
We are having “The Life of Jim” celebration on Sept. 24, 2022, from 4-7 p.m. at Bellevue Park. Please RSVP if you would like to join us by using this link: https://thelifeofjim.rsvpify.com.
If you have any questions about the celebration or have trouble with the evite, contact us at celebratingjimpaisley@gmail.com.
Organizations close to Jimmy’s heart are Men’s Second Chance Living and The Hunger Coalition. His family is indebted to Swiftsure Ranch and Wood River Hospice for their loving kindness. In lieu of gifts, please donate to one of these groups in Jimmy’s name.
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