Jim Wearne

Jim Wearne
Jim Wearne at the Celtic Nations Heritage Festival in Louisiana United States in 1998
Born
James Richard Wearne

(1950-10-24)October 24, 1950
St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
DiedJanuary 15, 2026(2026-01-15) (aged 75)

Jim Wearne (/ˈwɛrn/; October 24, 1950 – January 15, 2026) was a Cornish-American musician who lived most of his life in the Chicago area of northern Illinois.[1][2][3][4]

Wearne was born in St. Louis, Missouri and raised in the Chicago area.[1][2] He studied at Southern Illinois University, receiving a degree in theatre in 1972.[5] After graduating, he worked as a stagehand for musical theater productions including My Fair Lady and plays including California Suite. Wearne married in 1975 and had two daughters, Elisabeth Fisher and Catherine Wearne-Soto.

Wearne's first recorded album was Songs of Cornwall: Captured Alive! (1997), which was recorded live at the Potomac Celtic Festival in Leesburg, Virginia.[1] Wearne sang predominantly in English but did include some Cornish language music in his recordings, including "Delo Syvy" on his 2001 album Howl Lowen.[1] He wrote original music and performed some folk and traditional music as well, including "White Rose," "Truro Agricultural Show," "Little Lize," "Trelawny," and "Lamorna."[6][7][8] Wearne often sang about Cornish and Cornish-American communities, performing for the first time in Cornwall in 2002.[9] He was made a bard of Gorsedh Kernow, the Cornish association of bards in that same year, taking the bardic name Canor Gwanethtyr or "Singer of the Prairie."[10][5] The Gorsedh wrote that Wearne was made a bard "for services to Cornish Music in America."[11]

Wearne is descended from Cornish emigrants who moved from near Wendron, Cornwall to Michigan in the United States in the late nineteenth century.[5] Wearne included The Beatles, American folk musicians of the 1960s, blues musicians, and Cornish musicians Trev Lawrence and Harry Glasson as influences on his music.[12][2]

Selected Discography

  • Songs of Cornwall: Captured Alive! (1997)[1]
  • Me and Cousin Jack (1998)[1]
  • Howl Lowen (2001)[1]
  • So Low (2003)[13]
  • Kowetha (2006)[14]
  • Here and There (2008)[15]
  • Pysk, Cober ha Sten (2010)[16]
  • A Bit of Your Time (2012)[17]
  • Half Alive in Wallaroo (2015)[18]
  • Lyrical Gangster (2019)[19]
  • Partly Covered (2025)[20]

Books

  • The Adventure of the Old Campaigners (CreateSpace, 2011)[21]
  • The World. Around It. On a Ship. Mostly. (CreateSpace, 2016)[22]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Kent, Alan (2004). Cousin Jack's Mouth-Organ: Travels in Cornish America. St Austell, Cornwall: Cornish Hillside Publications. pp. 14–33. ISBN 9781900147378.
  2. ^ a b c Cornish National Music Archive (8 November 2023). Cornish National Music Archive - Symposium - Jim Wearne (Lowender 2023). Retrieved 20 January 2026 – via YouTube.
  3. ^ Glasson, Harry (19 January 2026). ""Just had the sad news today that Jim Wearne has passed away..."". Retrieved 19 January 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. ^ "Obituary information for James R. Wearne". www.beidelmankunschfh.com. Retrieved 2 February 2026.
  5. ^ a b c Stark1Stark2, David1Carole2 (2019). Cornish Bards of the Diaspora (PDF). Vol. 2. Gorsedh Kernow. p. 61. ISBN 9781903668184.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ Kent, Alan. "Alex Parks, Punks and Pipers: Towards a History of Popular Music in Cornwall, 1967–2007". Cornish Studies. 2. 15: 209–247.
  7. ^ Wearne, Jim. Half Alive in Wallaroo. Spotify. Jim Wearne, 2015. https://open.spotify.com/album/68X0wMqeUiK58oAECnCpRF?si=lwPDWq9JQc-tp3kGW2d-Uw.
  8. ^ Davey, Merv (31 March 2020). "The White Rose". Cornish National Music Archive.
  9. ^ Catmull, Mick, dir. Dehwelans / Homecoming. Calstock, Cornwall: A38 Films, 2002. ITV Westcountry. Aired on BBC 4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2D7rU0m5hTo
  10. ^ "Bards". Gorsedh Kernow. 2025. Retrieved 19 January 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  11. ^ "Gorseth Kernow: Byrth Noweth/New Bards Gwaynten/Spring 2002: Castel Pendynas, Aberfal/Pendennis, Falmouth" (in Cornish and English). Gorseth Kernow. Archived from the original on 21 November 2008. Retrieved 12 February 2010.
  12. ^ Jeff Hartmann (17 January 2016). The Sonny Brightly Show with Jim Wearne on Cornish History part 1. Retrieved 20 January 2026 – via YouTube.
  13. ^ Wearne, Jim. So Low. Jim Wearne, 2003, compact disc.
  14. ^ Wearne, Jim. "Kowetha". Spotify. Retrieved 20 January 2026.
  15. ^ Wearne, Jim. "Here and There". Spotify. Retrieved 20 January 2026.
  16. ^ Wearne, Jim. "Pysk, Cober ha Sten". Spotify. Retrieved 20 January 2026.
  17. ^ Wearne, Jim. "A Bit of Your Time". Spotify. Retrieved 20 January 2026.
  18. ^ Wearne, Jim. "Half Alive in Wallaroo". Spotify. Retrieved 20 January 2026.
  19. ^ Wearne, Jim. "Lyrical Gangster". Spotify. Retrieved 20 January 2026.
  20. ^ Wearne, Jim. "Partly Covered". Spotify. Retrieved 20 January 2026.
  21. ^ "The Adventure of the Old Campaigners: James Richard Wearne: 9781466391741: Amazon.com: Books". www.amazon.com. Archived from the original on 4 July 2013. Retrieved 20 January 2026.
  22. ^ "The World. Around It. On a Ship. Mostly". Amazon. 2016. Retrieved 20 January 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
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