hurst joined claire lynch and the front porch string band in 1995. during that time he met missy raines and they formed the duet "jim hurst and missy raines," playing together until 2000. during their time together they released two albums which won them international bluegrass music awards for guitar player of the year and bass player of the year in both 2001 and 2002. hurst has returned to play with lynch for a brief time in 2015 when her guitarist matt wingate left her group.