Douglas Oates, known professionally as Jim Moray, was born on 20 August 1981 in Macclesfield, Cheshire, and is an English folk singer‑songwriter‑producer who played guitar, keyboard, melodeon and drums. While studying classical composition at the Birmingham Conservatory, he released the home‑recorded I Am Jim Moray EP released in 2001 and performed at Glastonbury and the Cambridge Folk Festival in 2002, which brought him to the attention of the folk press. His debut album Sweet England (June 2003), recorded in his bedroom and issued on his Niblick Is a Giraffe label, earned a BBC Radio 2 Folk Award for Album of the Year and a Horizon Award for Best Newcomer in 2004. Subsequent releases-Jim Moray (2006), Low Culture (2008), In Modern History (2010), Skulk (2012), Upcetera (2016), The Outlander (2019), and Beflean: An Alternative History 2002-2023 (2023)-showed a progression from electronic experimentation to orchestral and stripped‑down styles, with collaborations featuring Sam Carter, Bellowhead’s Sam Sweeney, and his sister Jackie Oates. He produced and mixed work for artists such as Oysterband, Jackie Oates, Tir Eolas, and Art Brut, and toured with Oysterband, Eliza Carthy, and Richard Thompson, solidified his place in contemporary British folk. In 2026, he released his tenth studio album, titled Gallants.
