We recently connected with Tim Kreis and have shared our conversation below.

Tim, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

Oddly enough, the moment I knew I had to be an artist was whenI finished a book. I was 14 years old and had just finished reading “A Farewell to Arms” for a high school book report. I was sitting on my parents couch, it was during fall break, and, as the end of the book came upon me, I was suddenly drawn to tears. All from some ink on a page, I didn’t understand it- I arguably still don’t. But that was the moment that I knew I had to at least try to engage with people on that plane and I chose music as my medium because it was in my blood- I came up in a family band started by my grandmother so I had more access to resources to help me hone my craft.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I was born and raised in the foothills of the Sierra Mountains and came up in the California traditional jazz scene- performing consistently in festivals throughout the Golden State. I have since built a career around Pop, R&B, and Americana musics, which landed me in Nashville, Tennessee where I play saxophone and other woodwinds with a number of artists as well as front my own growing singer/ songwriter project. My brand is pretty simple, I want to get to the heart of the music. What’s the one thing that will grab the listener and leave a lasting impression? Maintaining that kind of engagement in this modern era is a difficult task but one I have fallen in love with pursuing. At this point, I really am proud of the contributions I’ve made to the various artist projects I’ve been a part of, both as a sax player/ woodwind specialist and as a songwriter. I got to perform a brief sax feature at The Newport Jazz festival and arrange and record with The War & Treaty, I’ve found myself in the writers room at Tim McGraw’s publishing house on multiple occasions, and I continue to work with a wide range of up-and-coming as well as established artists looking for an honest, heartfelt, take on music.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding thing is having an audience member approach me after a show and tell me exactly what I did to make them forget about life for a while. This can look a variety of ways, the first time this happened to me, I was 16 years old, an elderly man walked up to me after a gig with tears in his eyes and he praised my rendition of a jazz ballad that reminded him of his youth. Fast forward to just last night, Radney Foster approached me with an outstretched hand and said, “you’re one bad motherf*cker” in reference to solos I played during a Frank Sinatra tribute show. So, as you can see, people respond differently but the core concept remains the same. I love helping people escape through music.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

I think something non-creatives might not understand is that artists aren’t always in it for the gold and glory. Sometimes the song just needs to be sung to an empty bar, the melody needs to stand alone in a space for absolutely no reason at all. Ego, while common in the music industry, is not the only driving factor in a creative’s journey and success can look like any number of things depending on who’s looking at it.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @timothykreis
• Facebook: Tim Kreis
• Youtube: @timothykreis
• Other: [email protected]