Tim Walker
By Julie Garisto
Published August 10, 2007
365 days in the life: Tampa musician Tim Walker, 40, has embarked on an ambitious project that involves recording a new song every day in 2007 and posting each on his Web site (trymungous.com) and MySpace page (www.myspace.com/ timwalkersingsandplays). Downloads are free. No MIDI or samples are used. It's all him singing and playing instruments, with some help from friends here and there.
Is he the first to do this? No. Another musician with local ties, Paleo, began his yearlong endeavor last year and just finished.
Contributors: "Some of the guys I've played live with in a power trio kind of thing -guitarists John Katsaras and drummer Ron Lambert -two really cool cats, friends of mine. Whenever they're around, whenever something clicks, we write something or play something." Other musicians who have contributed to Walker's songs include guitarists Bruce Chronic and Jairus Jones, and on mandolin and guitar, Randy Pavlik.
Where the magic happens: "Everything's been recorded at the house so far."
Did he start Jan. 1? "I actually started Dec. 31, 2006, a day ahead."
What are the tunes about? "They're all love songs, relationship-type stuff. It's all personal, not political at all. A lot of stuff is metaphorical, figurative or whatever the proper phrase is. It's ambiguous. A lot of times I'm talking to myself, trying to pull myself up and preach to myself. Yeah, it's a diary. Songs change according to how I feel on a daily basis."
Bombarded with influences: "I grew up in a house of a bunch of kids. My mom started taking care of foster kids when I was 3. I was an only child ... then I had people from infants to 18. It was like having older brothers and sisters and I'd listen to what they were listening. That was in '70-'79, in Kentucky, and it was rock and soul and country."
His routine: "I like to stay a day ahead, so today's song is written. All I have to do is record a vocal. Maybe it takes 40 minutes or so. Then I bust something online. I like to post in the morning. For the first two months, I was finishing at night and that kept me up until 1 or 2 in the morning."
Day job: P&J Graphics
Favorite local performer: Rebekah Pulley
Electric initiation: "I started playing guitar when I was 12. I played electric. I've only played, really owned an acoustic guitar, for five years. That's insane for someone my age!"
Bucking the stereotype: "I moved down here when I was 19. I started playing in Wauchula County. .... Started a band and it was really weird. Here I am, a big black dude playing all these country bars and redneck bars. They loved it."
Soundgarden in da hood? The "Sounds like" section on his MySpace says, "A ghetto-ass Chris Cornell."
Check him out: Friday at Kelly's Pub, 206 N Morgan St., Tampa. Free. (813) 228-0870.