James Somers was a poet, songwriter, singer, dancer, fiddle player, farmer and itinerant labourer whose life followed a common path for working-class men of his time and place. Born near Stayner, Ontario to Martin Somers and Catherine Sullivan from County Wexford, he grew up around loggers and Great Lakes sailors. As a young man in 1882, Somers went to Duluth, Minnesota and began decades of travel and work across the Upper Midwest and beyond. He worked in Minnesota, Iowa, Michigan, North Dakota, Washington, and Saskatchewan, taking on roles ranging from farmhand and hotel worker to homesteader and small business owner. From 1900-1910 he homesteaded a farm in northern North Dakota near Maxbass. Somers wrote songs and poetry throughout his life and played fiddle in farmhouses and bunkhouses. Several of his poems were published in newspapers where he was sometimes called “The Critic Poet.” He left North Dakota in 1910 and settled first in Minneapolis and then in nearby Robbinsdale. Somers self-published Jim’s Western Gems in 1913. The book contains over 180, mostly self-penned, lyrics. He won a Minneapolis dance contest in 1926 with his jig dancing, competed on fiddle in 1928 and played for Minneapolis Irish American Club events.