‘I THOUGHT YOU WERE SOMEBODY ELSE’ by TIM GEARAN

Even though Gearan is one of the Boston area’s best guitar aces, the biggest attribute on this album is his songwriting. Working in a roots-rock and soul format most of the time, he writes compelling little vignettes, sometimes evoking folk singers like John Prine, and other times displaying an affinity for the unusual and unseen, like Tom Waits. Kind of a general theme here might be the passage of time, and how growing up is difficult at any age. “Mistakes” comes across as greasy r&b with a spacey aura, while the unfolding life depicted on “Brand New Days” has the gentle lilt of folk supporting his rough-hewn vocal. If you like cosmic cowboy music, a la Laurel Canyon in the 1970s, “Durango Way” captures that feel, while “Your Favorite Color” is a Waits-ian stroll through a frayed relationship. “Better Ways” might be the album’s best song, a poignant ballad about life’s daily disillusionments. There’s an easy groove to “Funky Mama,” which also comes with twangy swing, and “Future of the Past” melds a jaunty backwoods melody with a disembodied voice from the future, which makes it intriguingly strange. The sound here is superb, and Gearan’s core quartet of Dave Westner on bass, Andy Plaisted on drums, and Russell Chudnofsky on guitar is a veritable Beantown musical all star team. (Guernica Records)

“REWIND 2019- The Patriot Ledger

“Tim Gearan opened the song with an absolutely gorgeous solo that highlighted his soulful approach to his instrument...every note perfectly placed along a path that traveled from soul to fingers to Telecaster to an audience mesmerized by this instrumental magic.” The Grassroots Cultural and Performing Arts

Tim’s music was recently lauded on WGBH’s Concert Round Table conversation with Brian O’Donovan. Listen here: https://www.wgbh.org/news/arts/2019/08/14/the-bpr-summer-concert-round-table

Press

"One of the most galvanizing performers, and versatile Americana musicians in the entire country is basically a Boston-area secret. Somerville's Tim Gearan likes it that way, and he maintains such a busy regular schedule of gigs that music fans can catch him, almost literally, any night of the week somewhere around Beantown."  

-The Patriot Ledger

"Gearan's five albums have shaded sometimes more to one style than another, but they've all been fascinating musical journeys, and all fit nicely under the vast Americana rubric. Seeing his music compared to everyone from Randy Newman to J.J. Cale, to every aspect of The Band is no surprise. The only surprise is why Gearan isn't a major national star touring the world."

- The Patriot Ledger

 

"Tim Gearan is just too talented to remain a local hero."

- The Boston Globe  

"Anyone from out of town who happens to stumble into a Boston bar- be it Atwood's or Toad- when the Tim Gearan Band is playing, would immediately think this is the greatest city on earth."

 - The Noise