View source for Hobo Jim

{{Short description|American folk singer (1952–2021)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2020}}{{Infobox person
| name          = Hobo Jim
| image         = Hobo Jim performing in 2020 (Quintin Soloviev) (cropped).jpg
| alt           = <!-- descriptive text for use by speech synthesis (text-to-speech) software -->
| caption       = Hobo Jim performing at the 2020 Iditarod mushers banquet in Anchorage, Alaska
| birth_date    = 1952
| birth_place   = [[Indiana]]
| death_date    = October 5, 2021 (aged 69)
| death_place   = [[Nashville, Tennessee]]
| nationality   = <!-- use only when necessary per [[WP:INFONAT]] -->
| other_names   = Jim Varsos
| occupation    = Singer-songwriter
| years_active  =
| known_for     =
| notable_works =
}}
'''Jim Varsos''' (1952 – October 5, 2021), known by the stage name '''Hobo Jim''', was an Alaskan [[folk music|folk]] singer-songwriter. He was one of the most popular guitar players in [[Alaska]],<ref>{{cite news|title=Hobo Jim is back|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=l4QfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=maYEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3446,1592582|newspaper=[[Anchorage Daily News]]|date=August 17, 1986}}</ref> playing frequently at small venues across the state.<ref name=looking>{{cite book|author=Peter Jenkins|title=Looking for Alaska|year=2002|publisher=Macmillan|isbn=978-0-312-30289-4|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=eStD1ImIXQYC&pg=PA377 377]}}</ref> In 1994, Hobo Jim was named Alaska's official balladeer.<ref>{{cite news|last=Tunseth|first=Matt|title=Hobo Jim homeless again&nbsp;— Musician bids BJ's Lounge goodbye after 25 years|url=http://redoubtreporter.wordpress.com/2010/03/24/hobo-jim-homeless-again-%E2%80%94-musician-bids-bj%E2%80%99s-lounge-goodbye-after-25-years/|accessdate=November 20, 2012|newspaper=Redoubt Reporter|date=March 24, 2010|location=[[Soldotna]], [[Alaska]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Thornburgh|first=Nathan|title=Where Palin made her name|url=http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1837713,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080831111429/http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1837713,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 31, 2008|newspaper=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|date=August 30, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=February 5, 2012|title=Flying Lions bring Hobo Jim to town|work=[[Juneau Empire]]|url=https://www.juneauempire.com/neighbors/2012-02-05-0|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120206193256/https://www.juneauempire.com/neighbors/2012-02-05-0|archive-date=February 6, 2012}}</ref>
==Early life and career==
Varsos was born in Indiana in 1952, one of four children of Milton M. Varsos (1922–2013) and his wife Mary Ann (née Culbertson).<ref>Alden, Grant. "Hobo Jim". In [https://books.google.com/books?ei=USesUM-MEIPmiwLF1IBQ&id=qznaAAAAMAAJ&dq=isbn%3A9781578590377&q=hobo+jim ''MusicHound folk: the essential album guide'']. [[Visible Ink]] (1998). {{ISBN|9781578590377}}.</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Copyright registration: The Iditarod Trail Song|url=http://cocatalog.loc.gov/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?v1=5&ti=1,5&SC=Author&SA=Varsos%2C%20Jim&PID=KUPQWHaZq6REPU7rOTtLbVdNC8oCy&SEQ=20121120201455&SID=2|publisher=[[United States Copyright Office]]|accessdate=November 20, 2012}}</ref><ref>Milton Varsos obituary http://funeralinnovations.com/obituaries/view/119176/2</ref> His father was of Greek descent, and his family celebrated a number of Greek traditions.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Varsos|first=Jim|date=April 12, 2020|title=Happy Easter Folks...|url=https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=815590042184311&id=100011999689185|access-date=October 7, 2021|publisher=[[Facebook]]|language=en}}</ref> Varsos was raised in [[Madison, Wisconsin|Madison]], Wisconsin, where he began playing the guitar at the age of 12.<ref name="as">{{cite news|last=Delaney|first=Kelly|title=Hobo Jim Honors Loggers With Song|url=http://www.americansongwriter.com/1989/09/hobo-jim-honors-loggers-with-song/|newspaper=[[American Songwriter]]|date=September 1, 1989}}</ref> He hitchhiked to Nashville after some time in college, hoping to make it as a country musician.<ref name="as" /> After spending time hitchhiking and freight riding around the United States, he moved to Alaska in 1972.<ref name="as" /><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=Hughes|first=Zachariah|date=September 21, 2021|title=Alaska balladeer Hobo Jim shares diagnosis of terminal cancer|url=https://www.adn.com/arts/2021/09/20/alaska-balladeer-hobo-jim-shares-terminal-cancer-diagnosis/|website=[[Anchorage Daily News]]}}</ref> He settled in the state, making his home in Soldotna.<ref name=":1" />
Varsos's songs are primarily regional and occupational songs, focusing on Alaska's commercial fishermen, loggers, and miners.<ref name="as" /> Perhaps the best known of these songs, "Iditarod Trail Song", commemorates the [[Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race]].<ref name=":0" />
Varsos lived part-time in Nashville, where he worked with publisher Pat Higdon, singer [[Russell Smith (singer)|Russell Smith]], and writer [[Rory Bourke]], among others.<ref name=as/><ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite news|last=Epler|first=Patti|date=September 2012|title=40 Years of Song|volume=78|page=23|work=[[Alaska (magazine)|Alaska]]|issue=7|via=[[ProQuest]]}}</ref> His song "The Rock", which he co-wrote with Smith, has been recorded by [[Etta James]] and [[George Jones]];<ref>{{cite web|title=Love's Been Rough on Me|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/loves-been-rough-on-me-mw0000019810|publisher=[[Allmusic.com]]|accessdate=November 20, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=The Rock|url=http://www.allmusic.com/song/the-rock-mt0007798737|publisher=[[Allmusic.com]]|accessdate=November 20, 2012}}</ref> he also co-wrote the [[Janis Ian]] song "Empty".<ref>{{cite web|title=Hunger|url=http://www.janisian.com/albums/hunger.php|publisher=Janisian.com|accessdate=November 20, 2012|archive-date=October 25, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121025034503/http://www.janisian.com/albums/hunger.php|url-status=dead}}</ref>
==Personal life and death==
Varsos was a collector of [[Alaska Native]] artifacts.<ref>{{cite news|last=Foster|first=David|title=Scholars race with Eskimos for artifacts|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=gwshAAAAIBAJ&sjid=kHIFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1012,3538679|newspaper=[[Schenectady Gazette]]|date=July 30, 1985|agency=[[Associated Press]]|page=32}}</ref>
In 2018, Varsos received an Honorary Doctorate in Fine Arts from the [[University of Alaska Fairbanks]].<ref>Granger, Erin [http://www.newsminer.com/news/local_news/uaf-to-award-honorary-doctorate-degrees-meritorious-award-at-graduation/article_0a969e0c-46ca-11e8-816a-47ea462e64b4.html UAF to award honorary doctorate degrees, Meritorious Award at graduation] [[Fairbanks Daily News-Miner]], April 23, 2018</ref>
On September 18, 2021, Varsos announced that he had been diagnosed with terminal cancer.<ref name=":0" /><ref>Poux Sabine, [https://www.kbbi.org/post/hobo-jim-reflects-career Hobo Jim reflects on career] [[KDLL]] news via [[KBBI]], SEP 27, 2021</ref> He died in [[Nashville, Tennessee]], on October 5, 2021.<ref>Moore, Anthony, [https://radiokenai.com/alaskas-official-balladeer-hobo-jim-passes-away/?fbclid=IwAR0a5tDeS3UhK6ahTYFea2s0OT9gZFWXhpdtZOtXLDlcJwKkrNlAB2txpRg Alaska’s Official Balladeer, Hobo Jim, Passes Away] [[KSRM]], October 6, 2021</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|last=Williams|first=Tess|date=October 6, 2021|title=Hobo Jim, Alaska's balladeer, dies weeks after announcing terminal cancer diagnosis|url=https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/2021/10/06/hobo-jim-alaskas-balladeer-dies-weeks-after-announcing-terminal-cancer-diagnosis/|website=Anchorage Daily News}}</ref>
==Discography==
* ''Thunderfoot'' (1982)
* ''Lost and Dyin' Breed'' (1985)
* ''Where Legends Are Born'' (1986)
* ''Collection'' (1994)
* ''Wilderness Way'' (1996)
* ''Woodsmoke'' (2004)
* ''My Wild and Wolfen Ways'' (2015)
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
* {{Discogs artist|Hobo Jim}}
* {{IMDb name|12175743}}
* {{YouTube|T-cTzxkHPMs|Video: Hobo Jim singing "The Iditarod Trail Song" at the start of the Iditarod, 2010}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:1952 births]]
[[Category:2021 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American guitarists]]
[[Category:20th-century American male musicians]]
[[Category:American country singer-songwriters]]
[[Category:American folk guitarists]]
[[Category:American folk singers]]
[[Category:American male guitarists]]
[[Category:American male singer-songwriters]]
[[Category:Country musicians from Wisconsin]]
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in Tennessee]]
[[Category:Guitarists from Wisconsin]]
[[Category:Musicians from Madison, Wisconsin]]
[[Category:Musicians from Indiana]]
[[Category:People from Soldotna, Alaska]]
[[Category:Singer-songwriters from Alaska]]
[[Category:Singer-songwriters from Wisconsin]]