We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Mighty Tim Young. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Mighty Tim below.
Hi Mighty Tim, thanks for joining us today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.
Risk taking, I’m convinced, is an essential facet of being an artist (in any field).
My artistic and personal life have been layered with risk taking. The summer following my graduation from Mansfield State, in Pennsylvania, I was married. Five years later I was able to convince my wife it was time to move to New York City to pursue our dream of the actor’s life. We had both studied theatre at Mansfield, where we met. At the time of our move we were living in Easton, PA, about 100 miles from the city. Previous to our move I visited in the city to find a job and a place to live. Once I had accomplished this, we rented the U-Haul and with the help of many friends, drove into our new address in Greenwich Village. Having never lived in a big city before, this was exciting and a major challenge, however we both adapted very well.
Almost immediately, we fell in with other actors, writers and producers. We ended up forming a production company so we could produce and act in the plays we liked. We loved it. After a few years of working in the company, I realized my focus was more on music, songwriting, guitar playing, and so i left the confines of the theatre company and struck out to form rock bands. I had a great string of bands, over 20 years worth. There were lots of shows, new songs and amazing people. When the bands ran out, I began my solo performances.
A huge personal risk was leaving my wife of 20 years, along with my 10 year old son, and moving into my own apartment. i remained close enough to remain in touch with my family and able to take and pick up my son from his school.
Even though my son had some emotional problems initially, things worked out for him in a big way once he was an adult. He, my ex, and I remain close even though they still live in the city and I am in Arizona with my partner of 26 years. I met her at my long time job of bartending in the Broadway theatres.
After over 20 years of the Broadway job, they let me go because of new owners and I had to find other work. A few years of doing other work kind of vanished and so my partner and I decided to make a move. We found a house from an online site. Then we packed up, closed our separate apartments, rented the U-Haul and made the move. Now I was back in the small town of Sedona after my lengthy stay of 37 years in New York..
I found work and met many musicians who helped me gain a foot hold in performing in the region. I have now earned steady gigs in at least 6 different venues.
The house we were renting in Sedona came to an end once the owners decided they wanted to return. We had to move! It was risky looking for our new home but fortunately we had found a realtor to show us around and so we were able to find the perfect home for us. We now live in Clarkdale, Arizona.
So getting married, moving to New York, living there for so long, having my son, getting divorced, finding my soul mate, moving 2200 miles from New York, making a new life in the West, all turned out for the best. If I would not have taken these major risks, my life would certainly now be unrecognizable to me.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
Music is my business, baby. It’s because I’ve always been a fan. A fan learns to understand what it is he is fanatic about. If He/she doesn’t then really, what’s the point? My point is somehow in my DNA I became hard wired to the sounds of rock music. My earliest memory of myself being transported by these sounds was the song “Party Doll” by Buddy Knox. I was just a little kid with no aspirations about being a musician but those sounds fed a hunger in me and as I grew older, the hunger grew deeper. It wasn’t even a hunger I was aware of until the rock music hit me hard. Hard enough to make me want more.
The first thing I did when the Beatles arrived was to comb my hair down across my face. My father always was a fan of Byrlcreem, and Alberto VO 5. Those are some mighty greasy hair dressings which were fine with me until the Beatles. The hair comb was the beginning of my ideas of attempting to be my own person and the music of the British invasion, Motown, Girl Groups, and all the hits on Top 40 radio, absorbed into me and pushed me in the musical direction. Got to give it to my dad though, whom I know I learned perseverance from, because he never gave up on the idea of me plastering my hair with that grease, even though I was hardly a kid anymore.
I never grew tired of hearing new music. The 70’s Punk, the 80’s New Wave and Disco, the 90’s Grunge and Metal
And whatever you want to call what is going on now. Somewhere in there I picked up the guitar, learned three chords, and began to write my own tunes. And i know it’s a cliche but when I was in college, when someone picked up a guitar and began strumming, the girls would come around. It was like a magnet and I, along with the girls were pulled in tight and close. Soon enough it became obvious to me where my road was headed.
But even if I knew that, it didn’t happen right away. I was training, learning to be an actor in college and that was the force that eventually moved me to Manhattan five years after graduation. Then, after the theatre bug lost its grip on me, I seriously moved away from acting. In New York I had many bands and many songs. I worked hard at trying to bring some recognition to my music and to perform as often as possible. At least I was successful in the performing part.
After the bands, in my solo days, I became even more prolific with my writing, and recording my tunes. Now in Arizona, I professionally play at least seven shows a month and continue to produce new sounds and music. No one might guess but Arizona, especially in the Verde Valley, Red Rock region, where I am, is loaded with talented musicians of all stripes, as well as recording engineers and producers. It has been my good luck to have been able to meet and work with such an awesome stable of talent.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
My life is all about resilience. It’s simple. I never wanted to be any thing else. In my mind I had no choice but to follow my artistic aspirations. Once I made it through high school and into college was when it became clear I was in this life to be creative. I mention high school because my focus then was on getting the grades I would need to be accepted by a college. I did begin to write poetry in high school but I don’t know if I ever thought I would be a writer. Those doors did not open until I was able to move out of my parents home and attempt to discover what my life was all about. The discoveries I made, much aided by the people I met at Mansfield, dug deep into my soul and have never left me. Acting, writing, and performing were and are the forces that constantly keep pushing me to my ultimate goal of making my living through my art and creations. I believe resilience is not something that can be attached to someone but something in the blood that forces the issue. It forces the journey to continue in spite of what anyone else might think or what the world may have to say about it.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
Rewards for an artist vary greatly. On the small side, sometimes when I play a show the audience is only the waitress or bartender, so there is no one to make applause, except the waitress or the bartender, and whether it;s because they are enjoying what I’m doing, or just feeling sorry for me, once they burst into a hoot and holler and clap their hands, I feel rewarded.
On the larger side if a full house is moved to applaud all at once, I feel all that much better for their reward.
And sometimes after a show folks will come up to me and inform me what a good job I have done. Another reward is when the tip jar is filled to the brim. It’s a from of a compliment I appreciate in a big way.
Other rewards are much more personal as when I finish a new story or song and know that I have created something of value, at least to me. Rewards are also my royalty checks from BMI. But the act of creation itself, is often the best and only reward worth working for.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.timyoungmusic.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/timsored/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/timsored/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timyoung/
- Twitter: @timsored
Image Credits
Zushka Biros, Paula Parente, Bonnie Young, Dan Turner.