Timothy Riordan is a storyteller. His music has been influenced by Tom Waits, Peter Mulvey, Jeffrey Foucault, Gillian Welch and Elvis Costello. His songs are landscapes of human stories. His characters find themselves trying hard and struggling harder, making them like many people you know.
Tim started playing guitar during his first year of college. While Pearl Jam and Green Day echoed through the halls of his dormitory, he practiced quietly on a $100 acoustic given to him by his parents. He spent his four years of higher education traveling from creative writing class to writing critique rarely able to finish a short story while convinced he would someday become a novelist. It was only after he graduated that he figured out his knack for writing one page vignettes might be useful if only he could manage to rhyme the prose.
It was hearing the “This is Boston Not Austin” compilation that defined Timothy’s path as a songwriter. He started performing in the subways and frequenting the legendary Club Passim Open Mike following in the footsteps of his heroes. He founded the Chaise Lounge Lovers, a songwriting critique and dedicated himself to the goal of completing a song a week. This was the beginning of a commitment to craft and storytelling that has culminated in the five song EP, “Pick Me Up”.
Tim says “I started filling notebooks for this album in November, though one song had already found it’s way to me in early October. The point became to find some conflict I could bear out in these characters lives and distilling that thing which kept nagging at me in their stories. I worked at it most of the winter and by the time I looked up it was April and I’d just spent four days in the studio recording.”
Words of Kindness for Timothy and his Music.
You may hear echoes of Dylan and Simon—even Mulvey and Difranco—but his form takes an unexpected path that is distinct. He demonstrates that songwriting is only as good as it’s universality --Keith Hampton, Founder Brave Recorders
“I love the sensual images… with the vivid narrative details. The lyrics are very fresh and incredibly descriptive” -Barbara Cloyd, open mic host at Nashville’s Bluebird Cafe
Tim is a thought provoking songwriter. One of his songs has brought me to tears… Tom Bianchi, open mike host
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