Album Notes

Tim was born on August 2, 1957, in Richlands, Virginia, a small coal mining town of Southwest Virginia. He was the son of the late John T. and Lena Elizabeth Tolliver. He is a 1975 graduate of Richlands High School.

He worked in the coal mining industry for 10 years before starting his own contracting business, which he still operates. Tim started playing music when he was eight years old. He learned a few chords on his mother's broom handle while watching Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs on the
Martha White Flour Show.

His father bought him his first guitar from a local drug store. To quote Doc Watson, "It was like frettin' a fence."

Even though his love of music shows in the feelings he portrays in very song, it is only second to his love for writing. In the past year or so he has had an opportunity to pursue this avenue of his career meeting up with famed author Jim Lauderdale.


Tim is currently the lead singer for Tim Tolliver & Friends, after leaving the Virginia Cross Ties, who were nominated for two awards by the SPBGMA which are held February 2, 2003 in Nashville TN.




His first solo project " My Main Trial Is Yet To Come"
was released in 2000 and received a favorable review in Bluegrass Unlimited.

Read here what BLUEGRASS UNLIMITED wrote about "MY MAIN TRIAL IS YET TO COME":

Apparently Tim Tolliver indulged in some method-acting in preparation for recording this spirited gospel collection whose title tune is the desperate prayer of a condemned man on his last night on earth. In the photos, Tolliver is behind bars, dressed in a prison-orange jump suit. In one shot, he is kneeling in a cell that we can only assume is on Death Row in Northeast Correctional Center in Mountain City, Tenn. (The album is dedicated to the staff at the center for helping with the photos.)

If this was indeed part of Tolliver's musical preparation, then there's certainly magic in the method. He and his vocal accompanists really shine throughout. Of note are Wayne Taylor, Millard Edwards, Melinda Davis, banjo/ guitar-player Tony Brown and mandolin-player Joe Clark all turn in fervent and moving duets and harmonies with Tolliver on the various tracks.

The performances are uniformly masterful on these 11 songs, which include the familiar as well as the obscure: "I've Just Seen The Rock of Ages," "My Hope is In The Blood," Lord, I'm Ready To Go Home," and Gary Ferguson's "Last Day At Gettysburg," among others. One particular standout among many is the traditional "Bury Me On A Green Hillside," where Tolliver and company turn in a stirring a cappella performance.


(Reprinted by permission copyright April 2001 Bluegrass Unlimited
Magazine 1-800-BLU-GRAS)