Jim Zgorski walked away as the Grand prize winner at the first annual Riverbluff Performing Songwriter Contest at the 2004 Riverbluff Acoustic Music Festival. Zgorski's delivery of his own, double entendre laced, "Texas Tattooed Lady" sparked great enthusiastic crowd response. A native of the Baltimore area, Zgorski was influenced early on in his writing by the songs of Hank Williams and Hank Snow, then went through a rock and roll phase before coming full circle to the music of folk singers like Bob Dylan and Gordon Lightfoot. He cites legendary Nashville songwriter Curly Putnam as a special mentor. Zgorski's ongoing Nashville demo projects keep his writing skills sharp with his finger firmly on the pulse of the everchanging country / folk music scene.