Forever Overhead, the debut album from singer-songwriter Tim Baker, features eleven songs that centre on kinship. His buoyant first single “Dance” was about a longing for connection and feeling close to, but ultimately separated from, love. “All Hands,” his joyous indie-folk single, again explores connections, but is less of a lament than a thank you letter, dedicated to the people who have helped Baker throughout his career, and part nostalgic anthem about his Newfoundland home.
“This is a song about my past,” says Baker who grew up in the small maritime town of St. John’s before moving to Toronto, the 4th largest city in North America, in 2018. “It’s a song of homesickness that grew into a nostalgic anthem. I was thinking of the Newfoundland diaspora (or any diaspora, really). And it turned out celebratory – sort of revelling in the fact that there is this place that is an inescapable part of me, along with all the people there that I’ve loved and learned from and been shaped by. One of my favourite things is when a reason for despair turns out to also be a reason for celebration, almost simultaneously. It feels good to sing.”
Forever Overhead, is produced by Marcus Paquin (The National, Local Natives), and set for release on April 19, 2019 via Arts & Crafts.
For his debut solo album, Tim Baker, formerly the songwriter and lead vocalist of beloved Canadian indie rock band Hey Rosetta!, took his inspiration from ‘70s songwriters, like Jackson Browne and Randy Newman, whose music filled his childhood home, and from his contemporaries (Feist, Bahamas, Andy Shauf). The resulting blend of piano ballads, pop grooves, and ebullient folk-rock is straightforward with curious undertones that provides a timeless backdrop for Baker’s vibrant lyricism.
The album was announced in February alongside the breezy lead single “Dance” with a beautiful video directed by Tim’s long-time friend and fellow Newfoundlander Jordan Canning (Schitt’s Creek, Baroness Von Sketch). The video, shot in the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa, further examined our modern dissociation and desire. Drawing upon this unique setting where nature is frozen in time behind glass, the video speaks to how increasingly disconnected we are from nature and the people in our lives, even when they are right in front of us.
The search for personal connection is a recurring theme in both Tim Baker’s songwriting as well as his approach to live performance. In February of 2018, he travelled across Canada solo to play a handful of intimate shows in some of the oddest venues: a book store, living rooms, a ski lodge, the rink bar during a curling tournament and a hotel room Tim lived in for a week. This intentional, unconventional approach allowed him to distill the purest elements of these songs by road-testing them in the most challenging of circumstances – alone in front of silent, small, attentive audiences. All delivered from the heart and either by piano or guitar and most of which will comprise a 5 song live video EP/doc style mini series entitled “The Side Door Sessions.”
TIM BAKER – HEADLINE SHOWS 2019:
04/17/19 Hamilton, ON The Casbah (All Ages)
04/19/19 St. John’s, NL Holy Heart Theatre* (second show added)
04/20/19 St. John’s, NL Holy Heart Theatre*
04/23/19 Toronto, ON Great Hall* SOLD OUT
04/24/19 Toronto, ON Great Hall* (second show added) SOLD OUT
04/25/19 Toronto, ON Great Hall* (third show added)
04/26/19 Ottawa, ON Bronson Centre*
04/28/19 Quebec City, QC Maelstrom* (new date)
04/29/19 Fredericton, NB Wilmot United Church*
04/30/19 Moncton, NB Tide and Boar Ballroom*
05/02/19 Charlottetown, PE ECMAs
05/03/19 Halifax, NS St. Matthew’s United Church (second show added)* SOLD OUT
05/04/19 Halifax, NS St. Matthew’s United Church* SOLD OUT
05/07/19 Montreal, QC Le Ministère*
05/08/19 NYC, NY Rockwood Music Hall
05/11/19 Brooklyn, NY Jalopy Theatre
05/13/19 Asbury Park, NJ Danny Clinch Gallery
05/14/19 Vienna, VA Jammin Java
05/16/19 Boston, MA Cafe 939
05/18/19 Burlington, VT Higher Ground Showcase
05/20/19 Buffalo, NY Leopard Lounge at Town Ballroom
05/29/19 Edmonton, AB The Station on Jasper*
05/30/19 Calgary, AB Commonwealth Bar & Stage*
06/01/19 Vancouver, BC Commodore Ballroom* (venue change)
06/03/19 Seattle, WA Columbia City Theater*
06/04/19 Portland, OR The Old Church*
06/07/19 Los Angeles, CA The Hotel Cafe*
06/08/19 San Francisco, CA Hotel Utah*
*with Charlotte Cornfield
