Indy In-Tune

Show #050: Tim Spainhower

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:               

• Tim Spainhower can be found here: MySpace | Web Site | Facebook | Twitter.  
• His cover band, Blue Tear, can be found here:  MySpace.
• He first appeared on Indy In-Tune three years ago with his former band, The Fabulous Huckleberries, back on Show #007.
• His Heart of Stone CD (a repackage of the Fabulous Huckleberries album featured on Show #007) can be purchased here.  The other five projects he's currently working on, "Vicious," "Here Lies the Last Wise Man," "Bad Machine," "(The Abandoned) Blue Tear Album," and "The Great Midwest" are forthcoming, though you can occasionally hear his demos in progress and stripped down acoustic versions on his MySpace page. Some of the tracks that will appear on the Blue Tear Album (no relation to the cover band lineup that now bears the name -- except for Tim, of course) are currently available on Reverb Nation.
• Tonight's promo is for one of my favorite shows, The Schwagcast, out of Binghampton, NY, and who have featured The Fabulous Huckleberries in the past.  They are rumored to be featuring last week's guest, Branch Gordon, on their next episode.
• Our contests continue.  If you would like to win one of ten free Jeremiah Cosner CD's, simply log in with or create your profile on our web site and submit your name on the contests page.  The drawing will be made on September 1, winners will be notified via email.
• Our next Musicians Night Out will be Tuesday, August 25, at Incredible Pizza near Greenwood Park Mall. 
• Indy In-Tune is proud to be a co-sponsor of the 8 Seconds Saloon Rock Battle.  Come out and hear the next heat Friday August 21st at 7:00 PM.
• We hope to see everyone at our annual Podcast Marathon at this year's Kammy's Kause.  Come out and see a dozen or so really great bands in a picturesque outdoor setting, Friday and Saturday, August 28th and 29th at the American Legion campground in Fortville, Indiana. 
• Fellow Indy podcast Crossroad Resonances (MySpace | Web Site) is sponsoring the September to Remember on September 11th and 12th.  For details and a list of bands being featured, check out their show. 
• The next Indianapolis Podcasters Guild meetup will be Monday, August 24th, 7:00 PM at the Yats downtown. 

Darrin Snider is the OCD music nerd responsible for creating Indy In-Tune. By day he's a cloud engineer and business analyst, but he still hopes to someday be an overnight freeform disc jockey married to the local weathergirl who happens to be a former eastern-European supermodel.