Jim Smoak (born July 7, 1934[1]) is an American bluegrass and country music banjo player from Louisiana.
[2] Smoak was born and raised on a farm in Round O, South Carolina and learned banjo playing from his parents.
[3] Smoak had a difficult time establishing an audience in his home state, so he moved north in the 1950s.
Through 1953, he played occasionally with Bill Monroe & His Bluegrass Boys; the following year, he became a permanent member of the band.
Smoak joined Hylo Brown & the Timberliners in 1958, and later began to perform with Arthur Smith and the Cracker Jacks on radio stations WAFB in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and WBT in Charlotte, North Carolina.