March/April 2006

R&B artist goes against the grain of commercial music

BY BOBBI BUCHANAN

Sometimes slower is better.

Just ask singer-songwriter Tim Dillinger, who defied the speed-crazed music industry by spending eight months in the recording studio last year working on cuts for his new album. The Muse will be released this summer on Dillinger’s independent label, Icons Pen Media.
 

Rather than back up his voice with synthesizers and electronic music, Dillinger brought musicians and their instruments into the studio, a luxury in today’s profit-driven music business. "Live music takes longer to record because you’re working with people instead of machines," he said. The Muse features live strings and horns, which produce a more distinct, higher quality sound.
 

The 30-year-old Nashville crooner also has a passion for live performances. He gauges his success by the reactions of the audience. Record sales, music charts and awards don’t mean as much as the crowd’s response, he said.
 

Still, Dillinger doesn’t downplay his critically acclaimed debut album, Love is On My Mind, released in 2004. The album earned Dillinger two Southern Entertainment Award nominations: R&B Artist of the Year and R&B Album of the Year. The single "Can’t Help But Stay" climbed to No. 1 on London’s jazz FM and held the spot for two weeks.
 

In an interview with the UK magazine Soul Express, Dillinger scoffed at the conglomerate stranglehold on American music. "America’s leading radio stations are owned by huge corporations who dictate playlists based on advertising dollars," he said. "DJs have no say in what they play, which is sad."
 

Dillinger’s music blurs the lines between R&B, jazz and the gospel sound that marked his early career. A native of St. Petersburg, Fla., he got his start singing in church at age 2. By the time he was 12, his mother was taking him to sing in coffee houses and African-American churches.
 

"There are definitely gospel elements in my music today," he said. "People who come to my shows say it’s like a revival."
 

Dillinger grew up listening to the gospel music of Andrae Crouch, The Hawkins Family and the Clark Sisters. Later he drew inspiration from the likes of Curtis Mayfield, Marvin Gaye and Aretha Franklin. Some of his current favorites include Laura Nyro’s New York Tendaberry and Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue.
 

Heavily influenced by African American literature, Dillinger is also at work on a collection of poetry and essays. James Baldwin and Ntozake Shange rank among his favorite writers. Lately he’s been reading the poetry anthology Carolina Dusk and Montre Bible’s Heaven Sent, a neo-spiritual novel about the descendant of a fallen angel.
 

He said most of the songs on The Muse started as poems. The album includes several spoken-word interludes, which Dillinger describes as "bridges" between songs. He said he’s interested in conducting a theatrical presentation that would play on the album’s spoken-word pieces and symphonic structure.
 

The new album features collaborations with several notables, including Frank McComb, dubbed "the king of underground soul," and gospel legend Daryl Coley.
 

After the struggle to cut and promote his first album, Dillinger was disillusioned by the entertainment industry and the celebration of hedonism in mainstream music. "I didn’t think I’d make another record," he said.
 

His creative energy reawakened at an unlikely moment, while walking back to his car after having lunch with a friend. "It just hit me," he said. The songs surfaced as poems, which Dillinger and his producer, Dale Babb, rearranged as musical pieces in the recording booth.
 

The result is a coming-of-age story about the artist’s quest for authenticity. "I’m very excited about the album. It challenged me to reach another level of maturity as an artist."
 

Bobbi Buchanan, of Louisville, Ky., is editor of New Southerner.