I first met Tim Easton over ten years ago, when I accompanied Peregrine Entertainment founder David Napoliello and The Crow creator James O’ Barr to a concert in Northern Virginia. The headliner was Mark Eitzel, who cut his teeth with the American Music Club. Tim was the opening act; one man with one guitar and a rare sense of humility. Imagine leaving your neighbors and their pickup trucks for a guy splitting a rental Civic with just his guitar. That might give you a bit of insight into Tim Easton.
Since our first conversation at Club Iota in Clarendon, VA, I’ve seen Tim in Chicago, and some other D.C. suburbs. My writing partner and I recorded a few of Tim’s songs as lullabies for my son when he was still an infant, and I was on the road. So, it goes without saying that I’ve been a Tim Easton fan for a long time. Tim has eight CD’s available for sale, beginning with Special 20 (1998) through his most recent releases; Beat the Band and Since 1966. He returns to the D.C. suburbs on June 29th, and we will be in attendance; three generations of fans.
Tim won Independent Music Awards for his single, “Burgundy Red” and his limited edition Porcupine artwork in 2009. The artwork idea was another study in Tim’s humility; he hand-painted 500 covers (each a little different) for vinyl copies of the album. In his words:
“I did it to have another way to package my music, because there’s so much music out there that CDs have become pieces of garbage on the your floor of your car. You wouldn’t put the White Album on the floor of your car and have someone jump in the car and just step on it and break it.”
Tim’s tunes have been called rock/roots, catchy, even folk-swampy. His songs have been featured in the films “Love & Sex”, “White Oleander”, and “The Power of Two”. He founded the Joshua Tree Republic in California, and has had his artwork featured at the Red Arrow Gallery. He’s a very thoughtful young man who has had the opportunity to see a lot of the world, and to put his experiences to song. That journey includes such hilarity as “Lexington Jail” and “Dear Old Song And Dance”, a dedication to the booze and drugs he left behind. For some other fun stories, check out Tim’s Blog and his Twitter feed.
Early Tim:
One of my son’s favorite Tim tracks is “All the Pretty Girls Leave Town”. Here’s a live performance in Bucyrus, Ohio.
Established Tim:
Tim earned a few bucks for his tune “Carry Me”. Here’s a live performance.
New Tim:
A sample from the latest disc, Beat the Band.
We love ya, Tim. We hope all of our readers join us at your next performance.