I first became aware of Tim Carroll probably around 2013 as the then-husband and guitarist of songwriter Elizabeth Cook. It was only when I began listening to Hoosier expatriate songwriter Otis Gibbs' podcast "Thanks for Giving a Damn" that I discovered he was also an expatriate Hoosier living in Nashville. I learned that he had grown up in Terre Haute, two hours north of my hometown of Evansville, had attended IU (my own alma mater) and had played with the second incarnation of the seminal Bloomington Indiana punk rockers the Gizmos. He'd moved to New York with the Gizmos, who promptly disbanded upon arrival, formed an early cowpunk/alt-country band called the Blue Chieftans, moved to Nashville, got a writer's deal and ended up having one of his songs covered by John Prine, who, notably, has never been known for covering other people's songs. I resolved to see what this guy was all about and came across a video on YouTube of him playing with a three-piece band in somebody's backyard ripping through a couple killer rock n roll songs. I found out that he was regularly playing a Friday night happy hour gig at the East Nashville bar the 5 Spot, and so during spring break week 2014 me and a buddy of mine went down to Nashville and stayed at a fleabag joint just across the interstate with the intention of catching his set that night. There was hardly anybody in the place, but Tim and a bassist and drummer, a couple guys who had played in Midnight Oil and Agent Orange, respectively, proceeded to play a two and a half hour set of killer fucking tunes... and Tim had written them all. Blistering rockers, cowpunk country songs, moody introspective cuts, all held together by the raw frame of a loose rhythm section and a Les Paul through a Vox AC15... My buddy and I introduced ourselves (as fellow Hoosiers of course) after the set and Tim was super sweet. I gave him a copy of an album we'd recorded on a back porch in Btown and he gave me a copy of his most recent release. I think since then I've probably gone down to see him 4-5 times and every time he greets me like an old friend, while putting on a hell of a show. Hell of a guy. It's important to note that Tim plays with a rotating cast of rhythm sections, old guys, young guys. I've probably seen him play with at least 3 different bass players, three different drummers... I talked to one of the drummers after a show once and he pointed out that Tim never writes bridges for his songs. He told me he had a reason for doing things that way - if he only wrote verses and choruses, then whoever the guys were playing with him that night would be able to pick up on the arrangements of songs without having to worry about getting lost in the bridge. I thought about that for a bit and my first instinct was to think, you know, why limit yourself that way? But then I realized the value in what he was doing - when you hear Tim's songs, they're so economical but they contain so much brilliance, off-the-cuff observations, ruminations, delivered in this stripped-down, laid back fashion. And in addition to that, they lay out the template for these next generation kids to get up onstage and learn how to play rock n roll from a master - a guy who experienced the first wave of punk rock firsthand, who had a hand in the development of what came to be known as "alt-country", a guy who has written songs for and with some of the greats. It's like a schooling in a way, but it's also just Tim and his world... and I can tell ya that it's really fucking something to grab a beer, post up on a stool and see him play rock n roll. Up until the Covid quarantine he was still playing his weekly gig at the 5 Spot, and I sincerely hope that when this shit is over he returns to that stage. But I also have the feeling that wherever he's at, whatever gig he's got, he's gonna keep writing new songs and playing em for people. He's just that kinda guy. He's a Hoosier hall of famer. He's Tim Carroll.