James Hand (musician)


James "Slim" Hand was an American country music singer and songwriter.

Early life

James Edward Hand was born on July 7, 1952 in Waco, Texas. He was raised in the community of Tokio in McLennan County, Texas, and took to guitar playing and singing when approximately twelve years old. He worked in various jobs, including horse training and driving a truck. About his work with animals, Hand said, “People act like it’s some big deal, like this whole horse whispering thing. But I’ll tell you something – you can whisper to ’em, you can get down on your knees and act like ’em, but the horse knows you ain't a horse."

Career

As a teenager, Hand joined a small band and began performing in honky-tonks near his home of West, Texas. At some point he started to write and perform his own songs. After years of songwriting and performing locally in obscurity, he released his first album in 1997, when he was 45 years old.
In 2014, Hand played a fictional version of himself in the independent film Thank You a Lot. The Austin Film Society's website noted that Hand and co-protagonist Blake DeLong, playing his son, had a chemistry that was "hilariously realistic".

Critical appraisal

Reviewers have generally emphasized the "authenticity" of Hand's songs. His music reportedly can match the "rigor" of historical performers of country music, "with the slightest touch of outlaw bluster," while his voice can be "uncertain in moments." On the release of his first album, one reviewer wrote that Hand "sings the songs as if he has lived every minute of them," while The Washington Post's reviewer called him "the real deal," a view shared also by Willie Nelson.

Death

On June 8, 2020, Hand died from complications of heart failure at Providence Healthcare Center in Waco, at age 67.

Discography