Tim Grimm

Tim Grimm is a bit of a Renaissance man in the performing arts world, forging a rich and varied career that blends his love of songwriting, travel, and acting in theatre, film and television. For most of his 25-year career as a storytelling balladeer in the tradition of John Prine, Woody Guthrie, and Bob Dylan, Tim has written primarily about community, family, and social issues - often framed by his strong sense of place, and his love of the rolling hills, woods, and rural folk with whom he grew up in rural Indiana. His songs are filled with colorful characters and landscapes, written and sung with vivid warmth and intimacy.  

Recent Albums

Tim’s newest album, BONES OF TREES, was the #1 most-played album on International Folk Radio for the year 2025, and his protest ballad BROKEN TRUTH struck a deep chord with audiences, becoming the #1 most-played song on Folk Radio for both 2024 and 2025.  BONES OF TREES finds Tim surrounded by a robust musical community, with harmony vocals on seven songs and rich, varied instrumentation provided by a variety of noted musicians from America and the UK, where Tim frequently travels. Tim's good friend, the noted guitarist Sergio Webb, has become a musical and touring partner in the last few years and accompanies him on every track. The album art for BONES OF TREES was created by Tim's partner, visual artist Alissa Branch. 

Tim's second-newest album, THE LITTLE IN-BETWEEN (March 2023), is an evocative evolution from his previous albums - and his most personal, written in three intense months during the winter of 2021-22. This album traces his travel between the hills of southern Indiana and the Oklahoma prairie - and his internal journey from a rich past to an unexpected future - using a first-person voice in every song to illuminate a deep inner territory that historically remained more submerged in his work. This fertile creative year also yielded forays into visual art, with Tim using pastels and charcoal to create striking folk-art style triptychs, pieces of which ended up featured on the album cover and booklet. 

Tim’s album GONE was the #1 album on folk radio for 2021. Its title song was released as a single in October of 2020 and ended up the #1 most played song on Folk radio for the year. 

Pervious Acclaimed Albums

HEART LAND AGAIN (2019) which revisits a renowned collection of songs from 20 years ago; A STRANGER IN THIS TIME (2017) which features the song GONNA BE GREAT (#1 song on Folk Radio for that year); THE TURNING POINT (2013) which features the song KING OF THE FOLKSINGERS (#1 song on Folk Radio for 2014). This #1 song was a particularly gratifying honor, given the song is a tribute to Tim's friend and musical icon, Ramblin' Jack Elliott. Tim's long friendship with Ramblin' Jack goes back 30 years- beginning with an impromptu bicycle ride that led to The Newport Folk Festival and many other adventures. HEART LAND (1999) Which earned Tim the title of 2000’s “BEST DISCOVERY in Roots/Americana Music” by The Chicago Sun-Times; THANK YOU TOM PAXTON (out of print, 2010); FARMSONGS (2009); WILDERNESS SONGS AND BAD MAN BALLADS (2009); HOLDING UP THE WORLD (2008); THE BACK FIELDS (2005) was named Americana Album of the Year by the Just Plain Folks Music Awards - the world's largest independent music awards.; NAMES (out of print, 2004); COYOTE’S DREAM 2003). Tim has also released 2 collaborations: AMBER WAVES (with Jason Wilber) and WILDERNESS PLOTS. 

Education & Early Career

After pursuing a degree in political science at Earlham College, Tim earned an MFA in Theatre at The University of Michigan and began working in professional regional theatre, settling in Chicago. There, in addition to his theatrical work (with renowned companies like Steppenwolf and The Goodman), he studied briefly at the Old Town School of Folk Music and began writing and performing songs. He assembled a band called “Tim Grimm and The True Hearts” and released 2 early CDs--TRUE HEART, KIND MIND and BROKEN DOWN PALACE. And then, “Hollywood called,” and Tim put down his guitar and pen, and didn't really pick them up for close to 10 years. Tim spent several years working as an actor in Los Angeles in the 1990s, where he co-starred for 2 seasons on the NBC drama Reasonable Doubts, co-starred in the film A Clear and Present Danger with Harrison Ford, and appeared in numerous other films and tv projects. In 1997, Tim decided to return home to the woods and farmland of Indiana with his family. Having grown up there as the son of teachers and the grandson of farmers, his return home was a conscious choice to live a life of significance, rather than one of “success".

Theatrical Music

In 2001, Tim wrote the music for the stage play AMBER WAVES at Indiana Repertory Theatre with Jason Wilber of the John Prine band. In 2005, he was asked to compose music and act in a production of THE GRAPES OF WRATH at Indiana Repertory Theatre and Syracuse Stage in New York. In 2007, Tim put together a concept CD with several of the Midwest’s finest songwriter’s— Krista Detor, Carrie Newcomer, Tom Roznowski, and Michael White. That recording, WILDERNESS PLOTS (drawn from the short stories of noted author Scott Russell Sanders) explored the settling of the American Wilderness in the Ohio River Valley Region between The Revolutionary War and The Civil War. Two PBS programs have subsequently explored Wilderness Plots-- the first, a documentary on the story and song, and the second a full Wilderness Plots-In Concert (2012). Produced by WTIU in Bloomington, IN, both productions were nominated for EMMY AWARDS. Tim continued to write songs based on Sander's writings and released the album WILDERNESS SONGS AND BAD MAN BALLADS in 2011. 

Travel

In 2015, Tim started the boutique travel company Scotland Folk Tours, which brings noted North American folk/Americana musicians to lead small-group music tours of Scotland- featuring delicious local meals, culture, beautiful scenery, and evenings of traditional live music. Tim has also worked for many years with his friend sat Ireland’s Inishfree Tours bringing Americans (and Dutch and Germans!) to the Emerald Isle for 9 days and nights of music and day trips. Additionally, in 2026, Tim plans to begin offering small-group music tours of Italy. 

Tim currently tours as a musician across the United States and Europe. He lives with his partner Alissa on 50 acres of pristine Southern Indiana woods purchased by his father in 1971. 

For a list of all available albums (at this time) please visit:
https://store.cdbaby.com/artist/timgrimm