BeginningsTim was born in east Tennessee to a Presbyterian minister's family, and leaped to neighborhood fame as a four-year-old, belting forth the 'Up With People' theme song to unsuspecting house guests. He soon furthered his musical studies as a student of the piano, eventually learning a simple arrangement of 'Piping Tim'. It was this traditional Irish tune that led to a vinyl record of The Black Watch Pipe Band, ultimately inspiring an eight-year-old to make bagpiping his primary musical focus in life. (Many have since questioned the concepts of both Intelligent Design and the Evolutionary Theory.)
Studies
Tim studied composition with Jack Gallagher and Jack Body; piping with Al MacRae, Sandy Keith, Scott MacAulay, and briefly with the faculty at the National Piping Centre in Glasgow. He earned his undergraduate degree in Music Education at The College of Wooster (OH), where he taught piping and led the college pipe band for three years. After graduating, he ventured to the North Island of New Zealand where he taught piping and general music at Havelock North High School. He later returned to studies at Victoria University of Wellington, earning both a B.A. Honours degree in Ethnomusicology and an M.A. in Musicology, and completing a thesis on contemporary performance techniques of the Highland pipes. While in New Zealand, Tim was a member of the highly-competitive Manawatu Scottish Pipe Band, and has arranged much of their repertoire. During the 2002-03 school year, he returned to North America and was the Artist in Residence at The College of Piping and Celtic Performing Arts of Canada (Summerside, PEI).
These days...
In recent years Tim has taught and performed at the Northeast Heritage Music Camp, Young Tradition VT events, Maine Pipes & Fiddle weekends, Upper Potomac Piper's Weekend, the Pipers' Gathering, PEI Fiddle Camp, Vermont Bellowspipe & Fiddle School, and the Champlain Valley Folk Festival. He currently lives in Vermont, where he is sought-after as a private teacher, performer, workshop-leader, composer-arranger, and publisher of piping and Celtic-related music. On occasion you might also find him piping to moose and bear along the Appalachian Trail.