OPINION | PAPER TRAILS: Late Conway musician Jim Mize was an Arkansas songwriting icon


I've been listening to a lot of Jim Mize's songs over the past few days.

The Conway insurance adjuster and musician died last week of heart complications, according to his family. He was 64.

I first learned about Mize through the Mississippi roots rock band Blue Mountain, which covered his song "Let's Go Running" on its 1995 album "Dog Days." Mize's chilling version, with its droning gospel organ and glacial pace, was included on "No Tell Motel," his 2001 debut LP.

His music, a blues-rock-country hybrid, is gritty and loose, ragged and magical; his drawling vocals are a rough-hewn yawp.

Mize recorded two more excellent albums -- 2007's "Release It to the Sky" and 2014's "Jim Mize." All three were released on Big Legal Mess, an imprint of Fat Possum Records.

Fat Possum general manager Bruce Watson first met Mize about 30 years ago. They became friends, and Watson produced each of Mize's albums. The two had recently been working on a fourth record at Watson's Memphis studio.

"He was in good spirits, and we were talking about writing songs and looking to the future," Watson says. "Jim was a great observer of people and a great observer of the human condition. In his job as an insurance adjuster, he saw everything -- destruction, death -- so in his songs there's despair, sadness and hurt, but also hope and happiness."

Little Rock musician and producer Jason Weinheimer played bass and keyboards in Mize's band and worked with him in the studio.

"He had this kind of larger-than-life personality, and I think it came across in his songwriting," he says. "He's widely thought of as a legend in Arkansas songwriting, but it's bigger than that. In the world of Americana and Southern roots music, he's highly regarded, and for good reason."

White Water Tavern owner Travis Hill says Mize "was as real as it gets. And he was funny. He'd drop one-liners at the bar and just crack everybody up. I never saw him angry or upset. He was a laid-back, funny, brilliant guy."

Mize "could be a handful at times," Watson says, "but he was probably my best friend. We had that bond from making these records, and we had a great back-and-forth. I love his music, and I wanted to get it out into the world. Anytime he wanted to record, my door was open. I've never really met anyone quite like him. He will definitely be missed."

email: sclancy@adgnewsroom.com


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