Tim Grimm – Coyotes Dream / David England – Almost True
You may have seen Tim Grimm on a movie screen in the mid-90s (Clear And Present Danger). While still doing a little acting, lately hes been farming hay and raising chickens with his wife and three boys on a farm outside of Columbus, Indiana. Turning back to music upon his escape from Los Angeles, hes been creating some fine folk-based hybrids as a singer-songwriter.
Grimms new release, Coyotes Dream, is a wealth of folk roots and engaging songs that play in the mind like vivid short stories or films, written with the economy of someone who has experienced countless script rewrite sessions. Grimm mostly focuses his songwriting on universal experiences of family and land (Raining, Browning Mountain, Meeting Wendell Berry), and those potent moments in life when the everyday becomes profound. The most gripping song on the album is the haunting, apocalyptic title track, which Grimm wrote upon waking from a dream on September 9, 2001.
Supporting Grimm on Coyotes Dream is guitarist Jason Wilber of John Prines band, along with a great mix of other players from the Bloom-ington, Indiana, scene. Out-of-towner guest shots from Ramblin Jack Elliott, Stacey Earle, and Don Stiern-berg and Greg Cahill (of Special Consensus) further highlight the tasteful living-room feel.
Thematically anchoring the album is the closing track Heaven, a Jason Wilber song from Grimms musical stage production Amber Waves. The songs reflection that heaven might just be a perfect summer day on a country road in southern Indiana has a lot to say about what keeps Tim Grimm so creatively inspired now that hes back in the heartland.
Also new out of south-central Indiana is David Englands debut, Almost True. Englands hand-crafted project carries the aura of the album hes always had in mind from a Bloomington guy who could have been a contender, and may very well still be.
Almost True is also a showcase for the Lawrence County whiz-kid David Steele, who embellishes Eng-lands rootsy pop songs with an amazing array of instruments (drums, electric and upright bass, percussion, melodica, mandolin, and a variety of guitars); he also produced the album. Steeles multi-tracked backing always carries the right touch, never overbearing and rarely soloing. John Mellencamp producer/engineer Paul Mahern also lent a hand with percussion tracks and mix-down.
Englands weathered, reedy voice and accomplished guitar skills compliment his pop-roots approach. His songs echo some of his apparent influences (Elvis Costello, NRBQ, Lovin Spoonful, The Band), but his tunes get under your skin with a confidence that is Englands own.