About Tim Story

Tim Story was born in 1957 in Philadelphia, and currently lives in the small river town of Maumee, in northwest Ohio. Tim's intensely personal style as a pianist, synthesist and composer developed from years of experimentation in his home studio, and a love of composition. Along with his self-taught, idiosyncratic approach to the piano, Story saw the great potential of the new breed of electronic music instruments that were evolving in the early 70's. This affinity for synthesizers, as well as electric guitars, tape loops and kitchen utensils, is evident in the early recordings. The careful juxtaposition of acoustic instruments with electronic textures, and an inventive approach to composition are common threads running through most of Story's work. Tim Story's work has garnered an international reputation for its haunting elegance and meticulous compositional detail. When writing and recording, he often spends months carefully working and refining the shape of each composition until he achieves the desired emotional and intellectual effect. His seemingly simple pieces distill harmonic and melodic ideas that are often quite complex. "I like to work with a finite palette of sounds and keep paring things down to a pure, though often ambiguous, expression. Simplicity shouldn't imply simplemindedness. I think of the deceptively simple, ironic pieces of Erik Satie, or the lovely yet challenging piano music of Debussy. The very best of these pieces appear so effortless and perfect that they seem as if they've existed forever..." Story also cites a diverse range of musical preferences including Bartok, Arvo Part, Miles Davis, Coltrane, Dwight Ashley, Can, Cluster and Robert Wyatt. " ...a goal of mine is to get the listeners to put something of themselves into the music. I want to prod the listener to find his or her own feelings about a piece, even if those feelings are sometimes uncomfortable. As Charles Ives said, 'Beauty in music is too often confused with something that lets the ears lie back in an easy chair.' I like to think of good music as a sculpture or a Japanese garden, where you can never experience the whole from any one point. Music that insinuates, you must move through it, live with it for a while, before it yields its secrets." In addition to eight solo albums and dozens of compilation appearances, Story's work has appeared on numerous television and film soundtracks, and was nominated for a Grammy award (for 1988's "Legend of Sleepy Hollow", a children's recording, with Glenn Close), and a NAIRD "Best Album" award for "Beguiled". Notable collaborations include two acclaimed cd's with Dwight Ashley, and the recent "Lunz" with Hans-Joachim Roedelius. Tim's music has consistently landed on critics' annual "top ten" lists.