This is one of "those" shows. One where, seeing as how this podcast just (finally) turned 50, I decide not to go all out with a big fanfare, retrospective, or party, but one where I just pop out to my favorite watering hole, grab a couple of beers, and sit down and shoot the proverbial breeze with one of my best friends about old times, music in general, and stuff he's got going on in the near future. Therefore, by way of warning, if you thought the Jenn Cristy or Jeff DeHerdt interviews were a bit rambling, unorganized, and needlessly personal, then you'll love this one -- it's in that same vein.
Hey, I'm old ... indulge me.
Tim Spainhower is one of "those" guys. In the heyday of the music industry, say 30 years ago when there really were rock stars, I firmly believe Tim's prolificacy alone would have gotten him that mansion and swimming pool just up the street from Mellencamp's and Springsteen's. Sadly, it doesn't happen like that anymore, though what I think we have now is a lot better -- and certainly more honest. As you learn in the interview, Tim is a songwriting machine who writes rockers, ballads, and pop tunes the way most people write their names and addresses, it's just that natural for him. His fertile songwriting (he's currently working on five separate albums -- all different) is bottle-necked only by his relative newness as a producer (he's currently working on five albums -- all different), but once he learns how all that fancy new recording equipment he's got operates, then I fully expect a torrent of releases to continually be streaming out of Strange Studios. One has to believe that, as the spaghetti test goes, at least one of those will stick to the wall and get noticed by someone.
In my humble opinion, and even though his myriad rough demos and unmastered final recordings are good, Tim is best experienced in a live setting -- be it in the front of a cover band or sitting alone with an acoustic guitar doing his own material. Having been up there playing with him in more than one band, I can firmly state that this guy just belongs on stage, and as my buddy Johnny Lyles puts it, "There just something wrong about seeing Tim Spainhower without a guitar in his hand."
Links referenced in the show:
