Jim McHugh is a composer and multi-instrumentalist, currently based in Brooklyn, New York. He is a founder of Sunwatchers, a largely-improvisational ensemble that explores the interstices of free jazz, modern minimalist composition, psychedelic rock, Thai and Anatolian folk music and sheer noise. He played guitar in the last New York ensemble of the late experimental jazz pioneer Arthur Doyle, and acted as producer on 'First House', the live double-album resultant of the years-long collaboration - Doyle's final known recordings. McHugh was lead songwriter, singer and guitarist of the acclaimed Athens, GA-based free-rock big-band Dark Meat. He has contributed guitar, synthesizer, phin (an electrified Thai lute) and electric Turkish saz to notable projects such as NYMPH, Drunken Foreigner Band, KATIEE, Matt Mottel's Platinum Vision, and a multitude of others. Recently, McHugh has worked as composer for the upcoming feature-length film Burn Country, and created a guitar-based score for the Emmy-winning PBS documentary "First Language -- The Race to Save Cherokee".