Quick Q and A with Tim Mann
 by Kathy S-B  ·  1 August 2009

Tim Mann, singer-songwriter and guitarist, brings a sound steeped in musical heritage and powerful insight. Since moving to New England in 1996, Tim has continued to produce a catalog of material that combines a love of roots music with a cutting edge lyricism driven by strong imagery and a keen sense of melodic tradition. You can find out more about Tim by checking out his website or his MySpace page.

Listening to your music is like dipping into many different sub-genres of music. You’ve got a smattering of various styles so each song has a unique feel. “Cafe Girl,” for instance, brings Pink Floyd immediately to mind and “Over Here” has more of a folk-rock-pop sound and others have an Americana feel. Do you enjoy mixing it all up like that — experimenting to see where the song takes you?

I do enjoy the variety. The fascinating aspect is that I often hear arrangements in my head as the song is composed, and most of my production experience has been in trying to match what I’m hearing in my head without necessarily knowing whether or not the arrangement will work. In some ways the song charts the course from its inception, but in many instances I will also hear a basic track and suddenly hear a certain part that I hadn’t heard before. I’ve never tried to capture a genre, these songs just somehow appear.

If you could name three of your biggest influences, who would they be?

Well, undoubtedly The Beatles, as they have been the earliest and strongest influence, and remain so. This goes back to being ten years old; years later as a budding guitarist/songwriter they influenced me all over again, and now with the ukulele it continues. . . . I would also have to say Bob Dylan has been very strong, not just for song writing, but for conviction and his ability to encapsulate so much experience into the simplest lines. The third influence is tougher to pick—I’d have to go with Neil Young-such a strong and pure spirit in such a quirky package — he speaks to the underdog in me.

Your instrument of choice these days is the ukulele. What kind of ukulele do you play?

I play a Pono tenor, all koa. As a matter of fact, all of us in the Greg Hawkes ukulele trio play Ponos. Greg Hawkes plays a mango tenor with a cutaway, and Greg Allison plays a mahogany baritone. Pono is a division of Ko’Olau Ukulele in Hawaii. Awesome instruments at an affordable price, ha ha — no seriously they’re affordable…and awesome.

Is it true that you were inspired to pick up the ukulele by the music of George Harrison?

Yes, indeed. Of all the Beatles, I’ve always felt the closest bond with George. I was very saddened by his passing, and very intrigued by his love of the ukulele. When the last CD ‘Brainwashed’ came out with all that uke on it, I knew I had to get one and jump in. Funniest thing is that was ahead of this craze that is going on now. It’s been very bizarre to look around and see everyone else getting into it around you. Truth be told, other Beatles have been known to play the uke — think ‘Ram On’ #8212; and that was1971!

Why do you suppose more and more musicians seem to be embracing the ukulele lately?

Probably ‘Ram On’—there you go, it was really The Beatles that started this whole thing. No seriously, George’s contribution has been a huge influence for many — also the great shot of Joe Brown doing ‘Ill See You In My Dreams’ at The Concert For George in 2002 — who wouldn’t want to play uke after seeing that? That same year, Paul McCartney played a uke on his tour, Tom Petty had a uke song on ‘The Last DJ’ #8212; (of course he was a close friend of George). Add in Iz and Jake Shimabukuro, mix well with ‘youtube’ and there is a recipe for ukulele madness. The reason for all these guys doing it now? — could be the whole cycle thing, which makes me wonder if the hula hoop will ever come back.

What’s on your musical horizon?

Plenty. The trio is just getting started. We have some great shows coming up and we are inching our way into the studio to record some originals in addition to continuing to expand our Beatle-laced repertoire. I’d like to get back to some guitar stuff as well, Greg Allison and I are working on putting a guitar thing together and that has limitless possibilities, and I’m of course always looking to write the next Great American song.