Traverse City, Michigan artist Jonathan Timm will head to the Mill on June 28.
By Jonathan House
Accompanied by some new tunes, an upcoming second album, and an in-key sense of resolution, Michigan musician Jonathan Timm will return to the Mill on June 28.
Inspired by the classic country artists that the city is known for, Timm moved to Nashville in 2011 and got involved with other musicians in the area, mostly backing them up. He released his first solo record, Fever Dream, in 2016.
After the release of his first solo record, Timm moved back to Michigan in 2017, where he has worked on his next album. This is his first tour since his move back north.
“It’s definitely a change. It’s not like I can just walk down the street and record on a friend’s record,” Timm said about his career in Michigan. “I feel like that happened every week in Nashville, like I had something booked to go and either record or play. Either in town, out of town — it’s a little bit further few and far between here. But I still remain pretty active in singing and songwriting and going out on tour.”
Timm comes from a family of musicians, and he has been a musician since he started playing violin at age 8. Although he said he never thought of music as a career, he has kept it a major part of his life while also having a job in which he gets to help others, which he says is important to him.
“I’m touring and making records, and it’s pretty much a full-time endeavor for me, but I do have another job, and I’ve always wanted to help people in another way,” Timm said. “I work with kids with autism.”
He characterizes his music as having an inspiration from old country but being more indie classic rock. He said he has been influenced heavily by Neil Young and by Joni Mitchell and Angel Olsen. He also said he has been inspired in his production by Jeff Lynne of ELO.
Later this summer, Timm will release his second studio album, Grayman.
“It’ll be under my own name, but it’s with a full backing band,” he said. “It’s a pretty immense production.”
The album will have diverse instrumentation with guitars and synthesizers. He will play songs from Grayman on this tour in preparation for its release and will likely go on tour this fall as well.
The two-week tour will be partly with his band and partly solo. Timm plans to travel across the Midwest on the tour and throughout his native Michigan. He previously played at the Mill, in 2016, when his first record, Fever Dream, came out.
“We had a great time on that tour,” he said. “[Iowa City] was a really fun place to stop.”
Timm will be joined by artist Brian Johannessen, whom he knows from his time in Nashville, in addition to Ethan Samuel Brown.
The show is set for 8 p.m. June 28. Tickets are $8.