Comments and questions. Folks ask questions, and folks get answers. We welcome your comments, questions and reviews. If you send a question or comment, it may be a while before a response is posted. Most questions are answered personally by Joel Timothy, but sometimes a question may be answered by his personal assistant. You can include your name if you like, but it’s not necessary. Enjoy.

Joel Timothy, I love all of the songs on “Broken Cage.” The images and emotions in your lyrics are awesome. The songs are like screen plays. When I listen to the songs,I can visualize everything. I could probably ask a dozen questions about each song, but I won’t do that. I guess what I would like to know in general is - what is your song writing process, and where do you get the inspiration for the stories in the lyrics? Thank you. Lana Campbell, an American living in France

Lana, First, thank you for your kind and generous comments about the songs.
Your question is a tough one, but I will try my best to give it an answer.
My process is not just a single process. I write songs in a lot of various ways. I have a lot of thoughts and ideas floating around and incubating in my mind all the time. No matter what I am doing or where I may be, I am probably working on music and lyrics in my head all of the time. Everything seems to begin from small fragments, and when enough fragments come together, a song starts to emerge.

I rarely sit down with the intent of writing and finishing a song. I do that when someone hires me to compose a score for a film, or to write a theme song for something like Easter Seals, or any important cause. In those situations, I am called upon to create a song or a piece of music that has a specific focus for a specific project. I love doing that kind of work, but the process is much different than when I work on my own songs. To be honest, I’m not really sure where the songs come from. It is almost as if the songs are floating around somewhere, and I am just a conduit chosen to bring them together.

Regarding inspiration, most of my lyrics are based on either personal experience or things that I have observed. We live in a world in which inspiration is all around us. We just have to look around. It is everywhere.

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Mr. Timothy, I saw on your bio that you are from California, but you now live in Kentucky. Has living in Kentucky had any effect on your songwriting and guitar playing - and if so, can you explain a little about that? Thank you.

Jim Larson, Davis, Ca

Jim, great question. Thanks. Living in Kentucky has had a positive effect on everything - including my writing and guitar technique. Kentucky is a unique place because it is a blend of the mid-west and the South. And it’s beautiful. I don’t know if there is something in the air, in the water or in the earth, here, but something here sparks a lot of organic soul in everything - including the music. It comes as no surpise to me that this is the birthplace of Bluegrass music and a lot of Appalachain folk music. There is a lot of deep-rooted talent here in Kentucky. Also, we are not too far from Nashville, so it’s convenient for recording - and all of the elements of the music industry are close at hand. Joel Timothy

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Joel, What discs are in your CD and DVD players right now?

Rob Varney, St. Louis, MO

Rob, Thanks for the note. My CD player is loaded with a six-disc box set called “Goodbye Babylon.” It’s an amazing collection of very old recordings of gospel and spiritual songs. The set will probably stay in my CD player for months. I can listen to these recordings over and over. It’s really a great documentation of the beginnings of recorded American music. As for my DVD player, I am watching “No Direction Home,” the Martin Scorsese film about Bob Dylan’s early years. It’s a great film.

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Joel,
I love Broken Cage. Great songs. The sound and tone of your acoustic guitars is wonderful. What brand of guitars do you use? Thanks. Nick Simms - Sacramento, Ca

Nick,
Thanks for the positive comments. I have a lot of guitars; various kinds and brands. The acoustic guitars on Broken Cage are all Taylors. I love Martins, Gibsons, and a lot of others, but lately I have been on a Taylor kick. They have great tone, and since I am a small guy, the Taylor 12-series fits me well. I have several of them.

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Dear Joel,
I’m sure your life is mostly consumed with music, but I am curious if you have any hobbies, or things that you like to do other than music? Nan Carlisle, Boston, Ma

Nan,
Thanks for the question. Well, you’re right - most of my time is taken up with music, but I am a family man, first and foremost. I have a lovely wife, Karen, and we have a thirteen-year-old son, Ian. My wife is an artist, and even at his young age, my son is a budding film maker and animation artist. It’s a very creative household. The closest thing I have to a hobby would be my recently-found passion for gardening. From early Spring to late Fall, if I’m not in the studio or on the road, I can usually be found in my garden - digging, planting and moving rocks around. For most of my life, I have lived as an urban apartment dweller, but these days I own a home with a lot of outside space. My garden can’t figure out if it is an English garden, tropical garden or Mediterranean grotto. It’s an odd mix of things. Probably the most unique thing about my garden is that I use a lot of unconventional things as planters. Whenever a small appliance wears out in the house, I turn it into a planter in the garden. There are plants and flowers growing out of old toasters, blenders, and all sorts of other things. So, I guess my garden is the closest thing I have to a hobby.

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Dear Joel,
Where do you get your hats? I love your hats. A fan in Netherlands.

Dear Netherlands,
Thanks for the note. I get hats all over the place, but lately I have been buying hats online from The Village Hat Shop and Mike The Hatter. You can find them easily with a simple search on the internet. Double check to see if they ship to Europe.

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Dear Mr. Timothy,

I read in your bio that you are married to an artist named Karen Boone. Is she the same Karen Boonewho has painted posters for the Kentucky Derby? I love those posters. Melissa Derolf, Trenton, N.J.

Melissa,
Yes, that’s her. My lovely wife Karen, is the artist who painted the Derby posters. Certainly, I am biased, but I love her style. She recently completed a series in which she did several paintings of my garden, and now she is working on a new series of paintings which features my collection of guitars. Along with painting, she also designs beautiful coffee-table books. She’s an amazing talent. You can see more of her work - including the Derby posters at www.karenboone.com

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Joel Timothy, Love your stuff. Awesome. I always like to ask musicians if they can remember their first paid, professional performance. Do you remember yours? Steve - Phoenix, Az

Steve,
Thanks for the nice words. Yes, I do remember my first paid gig. I was fifteen years old, and I put together a group to enter a battle of the bands in a small town in California. The bands were only required to perform three songs at an afternoon fair, so we rehearsed three originals that I had written. We never thought we would win, we just thought it would be fun to enter and play. The prize was a hundred and fifty dollars, and the winning band would then go on to play for a three-hour dance that evening. To my amazement, we actually won the battle of the bands. Winning felt good, but it presented a problem - there was no way we could play for the dance because we only knew the three songs we had played for the competition. So I approached the second-place band to see if they would help us out of the dilemma. They were actually a great, seasoned club band that knew all of the popular hits. They played at dances regularly. I struck a deal with them whereby my group would open the show, do our three songs, then the their band would finish up the night. We split the prize money with them for helping us out of the bind. No one seemed to care that we did our three songs and then turned the stage over to the other band. As long as folks had something to dance to, they were just fine. I guess the moral of the story is - never underestimate yourself - be prepared because you just might win.

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Joel,
Love your music. Love the website. I really enjoy the stories on the Crossing Paths page. I am wondering, since you knew Janis Joplin, have you seen the musical
stage show, Love Janis - and if so, did you feel that it portrayed her as she really was? Thank you. Lisa Kirk, Cincinnati, Oh

Lisa,
Thanks for the compliments. Yes, I did see Love, Janis, and it was accurate down to every detail. As I watched the show, so many memories came back to me. Little things like her dog George, and her old car that would never start without a push.
I kept waiting for the show to take a left turn, and go down some sappy path that wasn’t real, but it never did that. It showed Janis just as she really was. Janis was a very complex person. She was all about overlapping contrasts. Love, Janis did a great job of showing the real Janis. The vocalist who performed the singing parts did a good job of recreating Janis live - but as close as she came - no one will ever be able to sing just like Janis. The actress who played the non-singing parts of the show did an excellent job of capturing Janis’ personality. The voice, themannerisms, the attitude - it was almost disturbingly accurate. As a side-note, the production I saw featured my friend Max Maxwell on drums. He did an excellent job.