home bio press
tour dateswebsite

Artist Biography

Just a year after his Wind River debut, NAMES, (a diverse collection of folk covers), American Roots Music MALE ARTIST of the year, Tim Grimm, delivers eleven new originals on “The Back Fields”.

“It has been an exciting journey, both introspective and out into the world, to return to singing my own stories. The ‘back fields’ are in fact, the fields and woods right outside my back door. Matters of the heart, stories of fascinating characters that have crossed my path, and the deep questions about the state of today's world have all come to me as
I walk those fields”...Tim Grimm

Musical guests include THE KOSSOY SISTERS, SPECIAL CONSENSUS, one of Indiana's finest blues musicians - Gordon Bonham, and good pal, Jason Wilber of the John Prine Band.

On Tim's release, NAMES, the flavor and roots of his southern Indiana hill country comes shining through. Tim is joined by a treasure trove of area musicians-including Carrie Newcomer, Grey Larsen, Jason Wilber, and Gordon Bonham-covering songs that range from centuries old English ballads to some of the finest contemporary writers, including Bruce Springsteen, John Prine, Gillian Welch, Tom Waits, John Mellencamp and Robert Earle Keen….. Woody Guthrie, the Carter Family….Blending Folk, bluegrass and acoustic blues, every song is a NAME.

Tim's 2003 release, Coyote's Dream, was produced by Jason Wilber of the John Prine Band, and featured Stacey Earle, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, and Greg Cahill of Special Consensus. The album has been nominated for "Best Traditional Folk Album" in the Just Plain Folks Music Awards, and the song, "Browning Mountain" received a "Best Traditional Folk Song " nomination (Tim's "Better Days" won this in 2002). The recording was made several top 10 or top 20 Favorite Album lists of 2003 ! Including…

KCBS- Seattle (Hal Durden & Richard Gilman)
NuCountry- Australia (David Dawson)
KDHX- St. Louis ("Blue Highways") Clint Harding
WICN-American Roots Radio- Worcester, MA (Troy Tyree)
Il Buscadero- Italian roots magazine (Mossimo Ferro)
KRFC- Ft. Collins, CO (JC Shepard)
Ctrlaltcountry- the Netherlands

His concerts at Steppenwolf Theatre and Schubas earned him the label as 2000's "Best Discovery" on the roots/Americana scene in the Chicago Sun-Times. Writer Mary Houlihan went on..."an immensely talented singer-songwriter...right up there with the best in the genre.

"In his home state, the Indianapolis Monthly magazine listed him in their year end "Best of Indy" issue as their singer-songwriter of choice. "The way this talented artist can paint pictures dripping of time-honored Americana images with his words, can not help but evoke comparisons to everyone from Woody Guthrie and Steve Goodman to Nebraska-era Bruce Springsteen", said Midwest Beat Magazine. Recently, he has shared the stage with artists as diverse as Richard Thompson, Lowen and Navarro, Carrie Newcomer, and Ramblin' Jack Elliott. A few years ago, Tim Grimm returned home to southern Indiana after several successful years as an actor in Los Angeles. He co-starred in the NBC series Reasonable Doubts and appeared in half a dozen feature films, including Clear and Present Danger opposite Harrison Ford. He had left behind (in the Midwest) a reputation as an up and coming singer/songwriter whose skills were honed at the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago. He also traveled and played now and again with friend Ramblin' Jack (also contributing liner notes to Jack's Grammy winning South Coast).

Tired of living in LA, Tim and his wife bought an old farm not far from where he grew up. It was during the time they were deciding to leave behind their lifestyle in LA, that Tim began to write songs again, inspired by the area in which he grew up. He released his new country-folk album, Heart Land, to critical acclaim. Rich Warren, host of The Midnight Special, wrote in Sing Out, "He masterfully works his words like a farmer works the soil for a deeply involving, superbly crafted harvest of songs..." Songs from Heart Land have won numerous awards including the John Lennon Songwriting Contest (country), The Great American Songwriting Competition (folk/country), "Best Traditional Folk Song" in the Just Plain Folks Music Awards in LA, and received a nomination for an Independent Music Award (bluegrass/country). Tim is a musical storyteller, whether writing of his own journey back to the land, describing those who never left it, or honoring those who came before. Rich with descriptive details, these are songs sung with warmth and intimacy, recognizing the inextinguishable national romance with the idea of the family farm and the realities of the vanishing landscape of rural America.

Remaining active in the theatre, Tim has composed music for the stage plays Amber Waves and He Held Me Grand for productions in Indiana, Pennsylvania and Montana. This winter ('05) he'll compose, compile, and perform music for "The Grapes of Wrath" at The Indiana Repertory and Syracuse Stage in New York. Summer 2003 he directed Pulitzer-Prize winner, Robert Schennken's new play with music- "The Handler"-at The Phoenix Theatre.

There are two ways to purchase any of the CDs on this site. 1) Just write down the names or stock numbers of the items you are interested. When you have chosen your items, go to Rediscover Music and type them into the "Search" field. 2) Click on the "Order Now" link next to the item you want to buy. This link will take you directly to that item at our Rediscover Music site. Once there, click "buy" to put the item into your shopping cart. If you would like to order more items, use your browser's "Back" button to come back here and continue browsing, or use the links to the left of the screen to see more items. You will be able to browse through all our available titles and view the song listings, too!