Rising Stars: Meet Timothy Baker

Today we’d like to introduce you to Timothy Baker.

Hi Timothy, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
I was born and raised in Hazard, KY, a small town in the Southeastern part of the state. My dad was playing in a few different bluegrass-gospel groups from the time I was born, and by the time I was 3 years old, I was getting up on stage at church to sing with him. I have an older sister named Katherine, and by the time I was 5 (she would have been 9) my dad could tell that we both had a knack for and an interest in music, so he stopped traveling with the group he had been playing with and he, myself, and my sister formed our own bluegrass-gospel group “The Baker Family,”

As a family group, we traveled to a different church in the Eastern KY area nearly every Sunday for a number of years, as well as local fairs and bluegrass festivals. We kept this up until around 2010 when my sister went off to college. I was a freshman in high school and because I had more time on my hands, I spent a lot of it woodshedding on the acoustic guitar (mandolin, banjo, and Dobro were my main instruments in our family band) and continuing to develop my singing voice (which had dropped drastically thanks to puberty). Around 2012, my friends in high school that knew I could sing and play guitar encouraged me to start a YouTube channel and post videos of cover songs that I knew. Slowly but surely I started posting videos consistently and by the time I had graduated high school, I had a sizable YouTube following.

I started writing my own songs around 2013, and in the summer of 2014 my dad and I traveled to Nashville where I recorded my debut country album “Let Me Drive.” That album was released in the Fall of 2014, right around the time I began my first semester at Transylvania University in Lexington, KY. I originally planned to take a Pre-Law route in my undergrad studies, but just a couple months into classes at Transylvania I knew that I couldn’t be happy doing that for 4 years. Luckily I made friends with the Music Technology Professor there, so I changed my major to Music Tech and spent the next 4 years studying in Lexington, making monthly trips to Nashville starting in 2016 to play with Allie Colleen at Scoreboard Bar, as well as write songs and network in town. By the time I graduated from Transylvania in May of 2018, I knew that I wanted to move to Nashville and pursue my solo artist and songwriting career, so in July of 2018, my (now) wife Lyndsey and I officially became Nashville residents, settling in the Hermitage area.

I started picking up as many gigs in town as I could take on, and after a few months, I had built up a pretty full schedule, playing anywhere from 4-7 gigs a week. I would write songs most mornings and play gigs in the evenings, making friends with other musicians and also building connections and networking with industry folks. I signed my first publishing deal (where I got paid to write songs every day) in 2019 thanks to my friend and songwriting mentor Roger Springer (a hit songwriter in his own right!).

I made my first trip to play music overseas in June of 2019 when I traveled to Hedekas, Sweden to play their “Small Lake Meet,” which led to a return trip to play the same festival last summer, as well as this coming June! In the nearly 5 years since being a full-time singer and songwriter in Nashville, I have recorded and released several songs, the most recent being a song called “Love You More,” which was released in February. I’ve also continued writing several songs several times a week, and in March I celebrated my first major label cut as a songwriter when my friend Jake Worthington released the song “State You Left Me In,” which he and I wrote with Roger Springer. While I also plan on continuing my solo artist career, back in January I teamed up with 2 of my very best friends, Dan Alley and Andy Austin, to form a new country music trio called “Old Hickory.”

We have been having a blast writing songs and performing together, and are already planning to record our debut album as a new group. On any given week in Nashville, you can find me performing at one of the live music venues around town, from Doc Holliday’s Saloon on 2nd Avenue downtown to The Nashville Palace and Scoreboard Bar which are both staples of the Music Valley area near the Grand Ole Opry.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
While I have had plenty of things go my way so far in my career, it hasn’t been a smooth road. In 2015 and 2016 I went through the audition process for both American Idol and The Voice tv shows. While I did get to sing for Keith Urban, Jennifer Lopez, and Harry Connick Jr. when I auditioned for American Idol, I did have to hear all 3 of them vote to NOT send me any further in the competition. Regarding The Voice, I made it through multiple rounds of auditions, which led to a month-long stay in LA for the “Blind Audition” round. However, although I went through the whole process that leads up to audition in front of the judges, all of the spots for that season had been filled before I ever got the chance to do so, leading me to wonder “What if?”

Living in Nashville and trying to make a living as a singer and songwriter is full of plenty of bumps in the road as well. I’ve played plenty of gigs in town where just a handful of people came through the doors and some nights I would get done playing a 3 or 4-hour gig and see only $7 in the tip bucket. I signed a publishing deal in 2019, and I was able to give up some of my weekly gigs in town since I was now getting paid a steady monthly salary to write songs.

But after only 9 months of that, the company I was writing for folded, leaving me without a publishing deal and needing to pick up more gigs in Nashville to make sure my (half of the) bills got paid. That was December of 2019, and of course by March 2020, when I was finally getting back to some sort of professional and financial normalcy, all the bars shut down and I was no longer able to make a living playing live music. Like many other musicians at the time, I resorted to playing online live streams for tips to make ends meet until the music venues in Nashville opened back up.

As someone involved in the music business, I’ve gotten very used to rejection and being told “no,” whether it’s been from record label executives, A&R for publishing companies, or even from venue owners.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am an independent country artist, songwriter, and musician. I have a solo artist career and I’m also a member of the trio “Old Hickory.” My music is a blend of the bluegrass and traditional country that I grew up listening to, with a modern edge that is familiar but refreshing. I am a multi-instrumentalist, proficient in acoustic and electric guitar, banjo, mandolin, Dobro, and piano. I’ve been writing songs for nearly 10 years, several of which have either been recorded and released by me or other artists. I love performing for a crowd and watching people react with and connect to a song that I had a hand in writing, there’s no other feeling like it.

As far as my music career thus far goes, I’m most proud of my presence on YouTube over the years: very often I meet people (either in person or online) who tell me that my cover videos quite literally helped them learn how to play guitar, or inspired them to start playing guitar and eventually pursue music as a career. I like to think that I’m well-rounded as an artist, songwriter, and musician, which is not uncommon in Nashville. But I’m the only person who has my unique perspective/voice, and sharing that through my own songs is what sets me apart from others.

Risk-taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
I’m a firm believer in the risk/reward correlation: big risks yield big rewards. I would say the biggest risk I’ve taken in my 27 years of living so far would have to be choosing to move to Nashville to pursue a career in music. I had to trust that my love for writing songs and performing would be enough to keep me from giving up and moving back to my hometown when any of the many stumbling blocks presented themselves. I didn’t have a Plan B for “if the music thing didn’t work out,” but instead knew that I would do whatever I needed to in order to make a living playing music in Music City. After being here for nearly 5 years, I believe that my big risk has definitely yielded a big reward because I get to wake up every morning and make money doing what God put me on Earth to do.

One of the more recent risks I’ve taken has been pumping the brakes on my solo artist career to focus more of my efforts on the new band that I’m in, “Old Hickory.” When my buddies Andy Austin and Dan Alley approached me about joining forces to form a trio, I wasn’t quite sure if I would be able to adjust from the mindset of a solo artist to that of an ensemble member. But in taking that risk and deciding to form a new band together I have been reminded countless times already that “3 heads are better than 1.” I am extremely blessed to get to make music with guys that are not only extremely talented but are great friends as well. The fun that I’m having getting to be a part of “Old Hickory” is added proof that you can’t expect big changes unless you take big risks.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/timothybakermusic/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/timothybakermusic/
• Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/123tdbaker
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/timothybakermusic 

Image Credits
Brandon Steger and Caitlin McNaney