The M-75’s deliver a tidal wave of groovy instrumentals for all occasions! Blues! Jazz! Surf! Swing! R&B!
- Jim Ransone – guitar
- Tom Abbot – bass
- Jimmy Willis – drums
Jim Ransone established himself as one of the top blues guitarists in Atlanta, Georgia. In the early 90’s as a member of blues-based jam band, The Urban Shakedancers, he packed top venues across Atlanta and toured the country supporting The Black Crowes on their High as the Moon tour. Later he spent two decades with Atlanta’s most popular blues band, The Breeze Kings, wowing audiences with his instrumentals that opened every Breeze Kings set!
The Breeze Kings were voted ten times Atlanta’s Best Blues Band by the readers of Creative Loafing, Atlanta’s oldest entertainment weekly. In 2011, Jim was voted Atlanta’s Best Local Instrumentalist. The Breeze Kings performed in clubs and on festival stages across the Southeast and Midwest, toured France four times including headlining the Cahors Blues Festival in 2007, and played the Illinois Blues Festival (now the Peoria Blues and Heritage Festival) in 2003.
In 2021 Jim relocated to Peoria, Illinois.
Multi-instrumentalist Tom Abbot plays guitar and mandolin in Peoria’s popular folk rock band, The Flying D’rito Brothers. In the M-75’s he is playing bass, his original instrument.
Jimmy Willis is one of the most in-demand drummers in Central Illinois. He’s played with countless top Peoria bands including The Nikbeats, Rooster Alley, The Steampunk Ramblers, and Rockin’ Billy and the Rhythm Riot.