Strand of Oaks
Strand of Oaks | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Timothy Showalter |
| Also known as | Strand of Oaks |
| Born | July 20, 1982 Goshen, Indiana |
| Genres | rock, folk rock |
| Occupation(s) | singer, songwriter |
| Years active | 2003- present |
| Labels | Dead Oceans |
Timothy Showalter, better known as his stage name Strand of Oaks, is a Philadelphia based singer/songwriter. His music classifies with the genres rock and folk music, or folk rock. [1]
Early Life
After high school, Showalter moved from Indiana to Pennsylvania briefly, then returned to Indiana to marry his high-school sweetheart[2]. While Showalter was on tour, his wife had an affair. Escaping his detrimental relationship, he moved back to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania in 2003. A couple months later, he came home to find his house burned down[3]. Showalter spent his nights in hotels and on park benches with a borrowed guitar while working at an orthodox Jewish day school. Despite the turmoil, he was able to find inspiration to write music that would soon become ‘’Leave Ruins’’[4]. His songs led to shows, which led to tours across the United States and the UK with Jason Anderson and Kimya Dawson [5] In 2010, Showalter married his wife, Sue, and moved to Philadelphia.
On Christmas Day in 2013, Showalter and Sue were driving back to Philadelphia from Indiana when they hit a patch of ice and crashed into two semi trucks. Showalter suffered a concussion and broke every rib on his right side. The near-death experience gave Showalter a boldness during mixing sessions while creating ‘’HEAL’’ with John Congleton, just days after the crash[6].
Career
Showalter’s first album ‘’Leave Ruin’’ was released in 2009 on the small Pennsylvania label La Société Expéditionnaire [7] while touring and collaborating with Lou Rogai [8]. His following albums ‘’Pope Killdragon’’ and ‘’Dark Shores’’ were self-released. ‘’Pope Killdragon’’ was produced by audio engineer, Ben Vehorn. While holding onto Strand of Oak’s folky sound, Vehorn added in synthesizers and effects pedals to create an album with a sound that was unexplored territory for Showalter [9]. In between tours, Showalter wrote music for what would become ‘’Dark Shores’’, an acoustic album that retreated his musical progress. Record labels that were interested in him after the release of ‘’Pope Killdragon’’ had pulled back once hearing ‘’Dark Shores’’. He recorded this album with John Vanderslice who produced the songs. Once he returned from tour he got to work, recording about 30 demos in three weeks his home studio, which lead to his most recent album, ‘’HEAL’’. [10].
Awards, Nominations, Accomplishments
- Consequence of Sounds #1 Song of the Week for “Shut In”
- Consequence of Sounds #2 Song of the Week for “Goshen ‘97”[11]
- Video for “Goshen ‘97” featured on Billboard [12]
- Syncs with Red Bull and MTV’s show Catfish
Discography
Albums
- ‘’HEAL’’ (2014)
- ‘’Dark Shores’’ (2012)
- ‘’Pope Killdragon’’ (2010)
- ‘’Leave Ruin’’ (2009)
Ep’s
- ‘’Darker Shores’’ (2013)
Singles
- “Spacestations” (2012)
References
- ^ Oliphint, Joel (23 June 2014). Spin http://www.spin.com/articles/you-gotta-heal-strand-of-oaks-faces-down-his-demons/. Retrieved July 10, 2014.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ Oliphint, Joel (23 June 2014). Spin http://www.spin.com/articles/you-gotta-heal-strand-of-oaks-faces-down-his-demons/. Retrieved July 10, 2014.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ Oliphint, Joel (23 June 2014). Spin http://www.spin.com/articles/you-gotta-heal-strand-of-oaks-faces-down-his-demons/. Retrieved July 10, 2014.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ Oliphint, Joel (23 June 2014). Spin http://www.spin.com/articles/you-gotta-heal-strand-of-oaks-faces-down-his-demons/. Retrieved July 10, 2014.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ JamBase http://www.jambase.com/Artists/71085/Strand-of-Oaks/Bio. Retrieved July 10, 2014.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ Oliphint, Joel (23 June 2014). Spin http://www.spin.com/articles/you-gotta-heal-strand-of-oaks-faces-down-his-demons/. Retrieved July 10, 2014.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ Oliphint, Joel (23 June 2014). Spin http://www.spin.com/articles/you-gotta-heal-strand-of-oaks-faces-down-his-demons/. Retrieved July 10, 2014.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ JamBase http://www.jambase.com/Artists/71085/Strand-of-Oaks/Bio. Retrieved July 10, 2014.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ Oliphint, Joel (23 June 2014). Spin http://www.spin.com/articles/you-gotta-heal-strand-of-oaks-faces-down-his-demons/. Retrieved July 10, 2014.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ Dead Oceans http://www.deadoceans.com/artist.php?name=strandofoaks. Retrieved July 10, 2014.
{{cite web}}:|first=missing|last=(help); Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ Willett, Sam (3 April 2014). Consequence of Sounds http://consequenceofsound.net/2014/04/top-10-songs-of-the-week-44/full-post/. Retrieved July 10, 2014.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ Billboard. 2 May 2014 http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/chart-alert/6077179/bubbling-under-my-crazy-girlfriend-not-scaring-away-pop-radio. Retrieved July 10, 2014.
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