Nashville, Tennessee operates as the country music capital of the world. Every year, legions of starry-eyed performers traverse from all over to the musical mecca in hopes of pursuing a career as a professional musician. The city has inspired and cultivated a multitude of artists but probably not as much as prolific singer-songwriter, Timbo, who has always called Nashville his home. Very few country musicians can say they were born and bred within the limits of Music City, but Timbo can say that and more, as he has become a local fixture within the Nashville music community.
In June 2020, Timbo released his first collection of original music in the form of an EP titled Brand New Feeling. The EP showcases a sound that harkens back to Nashville’s golden years and serves as a reminder of the qualities that make country music great. The six-song EP weaves a thread through the emotions of loneliness, longing, and dependency and leaves the listener yearning for more.
The EP kicks off with the wonderfully melodic number “Waiting,” where Timbo ponders the return of a former lover who has just arrived back in town and contemplates his actions that may have pushed her away. Set against the backdrop of a dimly lit bar, steeped in the state of yearning desire, “Waiting” sets the stage for the rest of the EP by demonstrating Timbo’s timeless country sound, featuring plenty of steel and fiddle, as well as his brilliant songwriting.
“Brand New Feeling,” the title track off the EP, serves as the most optimistic tune in the batch. The song details the flood of emotions that occurs when one falls in love and the little voice in the back of your mind that hopes that it’s not all too good to be true: “Oh, baby, I can feel it in my soul/I’m falling fast so please don’t let me go.”
Timbo conjures up a smooth melodic tribute to his home state with “Gentle Breeze of Tennessee.” The imagery in the song is just plain gorgeous: “gentle breeze of Tennessee/I can hear her melody/hand in mine we ride again/I’m a sing into the wind/listening to her precious harmony,” the lyrical content coupled with an excellent use of a weeping steel easily makes the song a personal favorite amongst the collection and, from personal experience, a perfect tune to listen to on an afternoon drive in the Appalachian Mountains.
Drinking songs have long been a fixture within the lexicon of country music and with the tune “Drink All Night,” Timbo proves just why the formula works so well. The song kicks off with the line: “When I lost my trust in you/I found the bottle…” From the opening words, the flood gates have opened and the feeling takes hold. Timbo breathes new life into a familiar concept in country music; drinking away the memory of the woman who left, and it has never sounded so fresh.
The first tune I ever heard by Timbo clocks in as the fifth song on the EP: “Be That One.” The tune essentially details one’s longing for someone else and the acknowledgment that they are willing to be present in any capacity that the person will allow them to be even if the person does not want them all the time. Timbo’s soulful country voice shines on the number and as I sit and listen to it again, it is quite apparent why my ears perked up in curiosity the first time I heard it.
The EP closes out with the lamenting cautionary tale, “The Liars Lullaby” which recollects the broken promises that amounted over the course of a relationship and the pining to actually live out the experiences that were promised before the relationship dismantled. The song offers up a narrative of reflection and consideration which is a prominent concept throughout the course of the entire EP. Brand New Feeling offers country music fans a little taste of a native Nashvillian’s artistry. Timbo’s idiosyncratic sound stands out amongst what the masses commonly associate with country music today and it is a sound that deserves to be heard way beyond the limits of Music City.
You can listen to Brand New Feeling wherever you stream your digital music. https://www.instagram.com/timbo_lo/