backyard tire fire's tim kramp shakes the sticks
By Maggie Saluto Borkholder
Tim Kramp is an impressive guy. And believe me, despite the fact that I’ve known him personally for 17 years; it’s a truth no one can possibly deny. He is a beautiful musician, a dedicated artist, and a willing friend. Tim has been working with the band Backyard Tire Fire over the last six years. He and front man Ed Anderson started the band in North Carolina during 2001. After moving to Athens, Georgia for a short time they eventually decided on the good old Midwest as a resting place. Ed’s brother Matt later joined and the rest, well, is history.
Tim was born in Chicago’s Cook County, then moved with his parents to their hometown of Springfield, and finally settled here in Bloomington during third grade. He lovingly calls himself a native of this beautiful place. Home is where the heart is, and his heart is definitely here. He attended Washington grade school for a short semester, Holy Trinity through eight grade, U-high, and Central Catholic, graduating in 2000. Tim’s the type of person who has music in his soul. I recently was able to spend a long evening with my old friend. This is what became of it.
Maggie: Have you always wanted to be in a band?
Tim: Ever since I started being in bands, I always enjoyed making music with other people and as time went on it was what I spent my time doing. I enjoyed it and I continue to enjoy it. So I guess I’m doing the right thing with my time.
Maggie: When did you start you first band?
Tim: It was an eighth grade music project; I had been taking drum lessons for a few years. We had a music teacher who wanted us to get into groups with a few people and write a song, perform it, and record it. That was the first band…it was called Spoiled Meat. We had great band names…such as Crazy Connie. It’s still a fun thing to do,
come up with band names.
Maggie: How old were you when you started playing the drums?
Tim: About twelve…I guess I got serious and really wanted to get good. My parents wanted me to learn a musical instrument. I never latched onto piano at that age. So, I took drum lessons because I bugged my parents enough about it that they let me take drum lessons. But I’m interested in other instruments too.
Maggie: So, you play other instruments?
Tim: No, I just like to mess around with other instruments. I’m a drummer!
Maggie: When/How did your current band develop?
Tim: This band began in 2001 and we had a few different players for the first year and a half of the bands existence. At that time we were living in North Carolina for, I guess, the first year and then Athens Georgia for 6 months after that. It was a great experience the whole time, we really had some good things going but when we moved back to Illinois, the Midwest, things just got a whole lot better and we got a whole lot more interest. When we were living down south we would come back up here to play gigs and it seemed we had a much better response up here. Then we traveled down south…and now we go down there and kill, but this is years later.
It was tough being a local band…those two areas in particular are big national music scenes that have large national bands coming through, so as a local band, if you don’t know the right people, which of course we didn’t because we were new in all of these towns, you’re not able to get in front of the right crowds…your struggling to get gigs for like a dollar at the door, just struggling, working bad jobs. Now everything has been great since we came back to the Midwest. At that point in time also, matt Anderson joined the band as our bass player and became our background vocalist. Ed and I started the band.
Maggie: You’ve been playing all over the Unites States, what are some of your most memorable gigs?
Tim: And recently into Canada.
Maggie: And recently into Canada!
Tim: We just returned from a 5 week stint. We played 5 gigs up in Canada. It was so good. It was so fun, it was something new for me to be up there with this band playing these towns in a place I had never been to. And we really had a good response too.
We went out with a wonderful band called Clutch. It was a unique thing for us.
We’ve been from coast to coast, into Canada, and all across the United States; from Portland Oregon to Portland Maine in a week.
Maggie: Do you have a favorite place to play?
Tim: The Denver area is always good to us. Illinois, Chicago. We’re coming back to Chicago this October. For a complete list of all of our dates you can visit our website at backyardtirefire.com
Maggie: Who are your musical heroes?
Tim: The Black Crowes, Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, Tom Waits, Ike and Tina, Tom petty, Jimi Hendrix, and Morphine-great band that more people should be into.
I just like everybody who you can tell they mean it.
Maggie: How often are you touring?
Tim: These past two years we’ve done about 200 dates per year. It’s really a lot of fun, so we take it very seriously, and luckily we all enjoy doing it very much.
At the end of our interview I thanked my friend for his time and stayed seated comfortably on his couch listening to an array of music and smoking too many cigarettes. I was sitting next to the boy next door, my dear friend, and one of the nicest people I have ever known. He is, to me, Timmy, the reliable guy who came to my house every Sunday for years. However, instead of Sundays the days are fewer and far between. After all, he’s in this very successful band touring our country and Canada. But, at the root of it all, he’s Tim Kramp, he grew up strolling our hill, and as far as he’s concerned coming back to this place after sometimes months on the road is the luckiest part of all.
Tim’s parents are Mark and Mary Kramp of Bloomington. He has three brothers; Joe, John, and Phil. Tim currently resides in Bloomington with his girlfriend Rachael and their cat Charlie.
For more information on tour dates, pictures, music from the band, and much more visit their website at http://www.backyardtirefire.com/
photography, by maggie saluto borkholder, anthony saluto productions , usage and or prints, gosaluto@bellsouth.net
writing, editing, Maggie Saluto Borkholder
news tips, downtown trivia, gosaluto@bellsoth.net
Copyright 2007 Anthony Saluto Productions p.o. box 3425 bloomington il. 61702
advertising, gosaluto@bellsouth.net
