Lethem, a Silos fan, introduced himself to Salas-Humara at a Silos concert in New Orleans, and Salas-Humara proposed that the two write songs together. They convened at Lethem's house in Maine and ended up writing an entire album's worth of material within a couple of days, Lethem writing lyrics and Salas-Humara music. Lethem later added spoken word pieces. The project was then expanded to include Philip Hernandez and Chris Maxwell (aka the music production team the Elegant Too), although Lethem cautions that in addition to being "not Jim," it is also "not a band" in the usual sense, "but rather some kind of floating workshop or lab for making music." I'm Not Jim's debut album, You Are All My People, was released by Bloodshot Records on September 9, 2008. ~ William Ruhlmann