Three years in the making, Tim Harden’s new self-titled debut album marks his biggest achievement in the art of music. Decades of songwriting, studio experience and live performance have culminated into this single collection of recordings.
“This project is, by light years, the biggest musical undertaking of my life. One day, when I finally leave this Earth, I know I can rest comfortably with this CD playing at my tombstone.” – Tim Harden, 2008.
Tim showcases the many musical instruments he can command. For most of the songs, he quite literally is a one-man band, playing 4, 5, 12-string and synth basses, electric and acoustic 6 and 12-string guitars, pianos and synthesizers, drum machines and percussion, as well as all of the lead and backing vocal work. “When working in my own studio, I sometimes consider myself to be a ‘Stanley Kubrick’ when it comes to recording. I think nothing of doing 50 or 60 takes to get just the right one.”
Apart from singing and playing most of the parts on his record, he also produced, engineered, mixed and mastered the CD from start to finish, with assistance from his assistant producers who were instrumental in providing an “extra set of ears that weren’t so close to the project itself”.
Tim has worn many hats over the years on his musical journey. Brief stops along the way were playing in the brass sections of marching and concert bands, and playing bass to a wide variety of musical tastes from punk, folk, top forty dance to a ZZ Top tribute band. One of Tim’s great loves, besides writing and recording his own music, is working in the studio with other artists who look for a seasoned bassist on their own projects. Artists like the 1960’s and 1970’s Texas legend, Shiva’s Headband, recognize his talent and skills of the instrument.
Tim has other achievements outside of the studio, including opening for the country legend, Ray Price. Tim’s music, instrumental and engineering work can also be heard in the documentaries, “Flesh Wounds: Seven Stories of the Saw” and “It Runs In The Family: The Making of a Sequel”. Both are available on DVD worldwide. He also lends his own studio, “Studio de la Saw”, to other talented singer / songwriters to help produce and record their own projects. But Tim’s talents can not be contained in just the art of audio. In recent years, he has participated both in front of and behind the camera of DVD documentaries, interviews on local and national television, newspapers, as well as on the Web, including the E! True Hollywood Story, and as an actor in the 2007 film, “Wild Man of the Navidad”.
Even though Tim leads and active and prolific career in the audio and visual arts, he stays grounded in his roots in central Texas with his supportive wife of many years and family in San Antonio.
