Some thoughts on Jim from his friend Terry Roland:

Jim Silar was one of the few people I've ever known who truly loved music. He loved music for its own sake, not for what it did for his ego so much as what he could share with others of the watermelon slices of life that he had exerienced. Music connected him somewhere beyond the pain of his ordinary life.

And while his life was never easy, Jim's music was always full of celebration. His songs are about ordinary things, extraordinary things, friendship, love, romance, redemption and fun. If you listen carefully you'll hear influences from ragtime, country blues, rockabilly, folk and gospel. You may hear the lonesome echos of Hank Williams; the ghost of the Singing Brakeman, Jimmie Rodgers, seems to sing out from his guitar and his careful phrasing.

But mostly what I hear in his songs is the Jim I knew for over 30 years--the one person I can call an authentic troubadour. His guitar and his songs always traveled with him. In these songs I hear our long nights together trading newly written tunes; I can hear his original innocence in these melodies; I hear the years of longing, of wishing that life could hand us something easier than the reality we'd come to know.

These songs are the heart of someone who simply knows first hand loss, love and renewal, like others know the turning of the seasons.

Jim was a true friend. He recently died as the result of a massive heart attack. He was 50 years old. He never lived out his dreams, but one thing I know is that if Jim were with us right now, he would feel proud of a website that featured his music. I know that he wanted his songs to be remembered. He wanted his music to be enjoyed by others.

This is all that is left of this good man now. He deserves to be heard. I hope you take the time to listen /and enjoy.

--Terry Roland, Ontario, California, 8/22/03

Related sites:

Midnight Rounders

Michael Patrick Tracy (Soundclick.com)

Michael Patrick Tracy (website)

Blue Lark Music

Terry Roland