Cliff Frierson

Cliff is originally from Denmark, South Carolina where he served as organist at First Baptist Church from 1975 to 1979. He studied organ performance under Dr. David Lowry, Winthrop College, Rock Hill, South Carolina before moving to Atlanta, Georgia. He served as organist at First Presbyterian Church, Covington, Georgia from 1986 to 2003. He has been organist at Druid Hills Presbyterian Church since 2008 and studies organ currently under the instruction of Sue Mitchell-Wallace.

Cliff has played in several concerts and his current church, with several choral groups and large instrumental concerts for organ and orchestra.Cliff started composing music in 1990 consisting of many genres of music which include: Piano solo pieces, Love Songs of several genres, blues and Christian music among several additional genres and styles of music. His best friend of 41 years, Jim Bass, is his music writing partner and major inspiration, which has opened up new musical ideas for both Cliff and Jim. Cliff donates time at several retirement communities, providing music for chapel services and dining music.

Jim Bass

Jim is originally from Jacksonville, Florida where his father was church organist and choir director. Music has played a major role throughout Jim’s life. As a matter of fact, his parents met in a church choir his father directed. As a child he was exposed to many music genres and generations: church, classical, the standards, pop, and R&B, as well as music from the 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s and 60’s.

As a teen he discovered soul, funk, and disco. The disco and dance genre became his passion and he aspired to become a DJ at a discotheque. In 1980, he moved to Atlanta, Georgia where he attended Georgia State University and studied commercial music and business administration.

To make ends meet during college, he worked as a bartender in several large discos in Atlanta. Working in the clubs he listened to music 8 hours a day and developed a huge appreciation for many of the producers, arrangers, remixers, and DJs. He also met many recording artists who performed regularly at the clubs. It was during this time he met Cliff Frierson and a strong friendship formed.After college, Jim followed in his father’s footsteps and worked in the music ministry at Mt. Paran Church of God, a large Atlanta church, where he coordinated a music program of over 1,000 volunteers. Here he was exposed to and performed a variety of traditional and contemporary hymns, anthems, and worship/praise music.

During this time, his passion for vocal and orchestral arrangements was ignited by works from David Clydesdale, Geron Davis, Mark Hayes, Dan Burgess, and many others. In the early 1990’s Jim and Cliff began to collaborate on several music compositions spanning their love for Christian music, love ballads, and pop/dance music. From a career perspective, Jim is a customer experience professional and genetic genealogist, but music is his life and remains his first love.