Tim Grimm settled in Chicago where he seemed to be living the dream making music, working as an actor and appearing in several films and TV projects. Despite these achievements, he did not feel fulfilled and decided to return home to Indiana “to live a life of significance rather than one of “success’”..
Contentment in the rural idyll does not mean he has turned his back on the world. In the nine tracks of his latest album he reflects on the cultural and social anxiety in America under the shadow of the Trump presidency. He sings of dreams past and present, and on personal and community loss. Carry Us Away is a bittersweet love song containing the sobering reflection that “dreams are just a sad excuse to stay.”
In the title track he notes bleakly that “there used to be four horseman, now there’s only one.” The sense of loss of common values is palpable and this is coupled with sadness over the passing of friends and peers.
Dreaming of King Lear is a homage to the late songwriters (”prophets without fear”) Eric Taylor, Michael Smith and David Olney who all died in 2020.
The song Joseph Cross was written by Taylor and his widow, Susan Lindfors Taylor, sings harmony vocals.
The transience of life is also the subject of Laurel Pearl about a young girl from Plymouth, MA, which prompts the realisation that “we’re all just a breath in this world.”
Although steeped in melancholy, there are lighter moments. Cadillac Hearse takes the listener on a jokey nostalgia trip in a converted hearse through rural North Carolina in the 60’s while 25 Trees identifies the consolation and pleasure books and nature provide during the pandemic.
Tim Grimm’s family are at the beating heart of ‘Gone’. His wife, Jan Lucas-Grimm co-wrote two songs and contributes vocal harmonies and harmonica, Sons Connor and Jackson play bass and banjo respectively.
These songs are rooted in the affirmation that what is gone must not be forgotten but should give a deeper recognition of the values and dreams that need to be preserved at all cost.
