Today we’d like to introduce you to The Killdares, Tim Smith.
The Killdares, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
Tim Smith: founder/drummer/lead singer of national Celtic Rock band THE KILLDARES
20 Years of Celtic Rock (1996 – 2016)
Growing up in Dallas, Texas, I don’t think anyone could have predicted what would eventually become my future love of Celtic music. After all, it was the late 70s/early 80s, and the country was riding a wave of Texas popularity led by Urban Cowboy and the TV show Dallas. “Rhinestone Cowboy” ruled the air waves, and Texas was in the forefront of pop culture helping answer the only important question of “Who shot J.R.?” Disco was dead, New Wave was starting, Punk was far from dead, and my KISS records were on full volume down the hall. A collision of sorts was happening in the U.S. And I was a fan of it all. But with so many styles of music to choose from, why would a Texas teenager even think there were other musical options? Let alone Irish music? I would soon find out…
My relationship with Irish music has always been a very non-traditional one. I have my parents to
thank for that. My mother’s family hails from County Roscommon in Ireland as well as the
deep south of Louisiana. While my father’s side goes back to Scotland. And so, growing up in the
80s, our house was always a very musical one. It was not uncommon on a Saturday night to hear our
living room filled with the sounds of Fleetwood Mac, Linda Ronstadt, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, The Dillards and The Eagles…while interspersed with The Chieftains, Beausoleil, Altan, Steeleye Span and
Fairport Convention. My eyes and ears were being opened to a whole new world of quality music. Of course I didn’t know it at the time. I never paid much attention to all of this “adult” music because the New Wave/Punk movement was in full force, and I was much more interested in rebelling with The Clash and The Pogues, or going underground with bands like R.E.M., The Smiths, The Alarm or Scottish rockers Big Country. But then in 1988 I heard “Fisherman’s Blues” by The Water boys. And unbeknownst to me at the time, it was that moment that would help play a role in forming the idea for my Celtic Rock band 10 years later.
Flash forward to the late-90s. By this time, I had been drumming and singing in various bands throughout college and the D/FW metroplex, and the music industry as a whole was raging full on. But by happenstance I discovered a local Dallas Irish music scene that was thriving at the time. Suddenly it all made sense. My rock n’ roll roots were deep. But, I couldn’t help the natural pull I began feeling of all that Irish music circling in the Smith house many years earlier. That once-forgotten stuff from the motherland I grew up listening to was now more relevant than I realized. There were other options for music out there. What’s more…I discovered there was even a market for making a career out of playing this “other” alternative music.
And so, in 1996 I formed THE KILLDARES. The internet was a foreign concept. Smartphones were non-existent. But…Celtic Rock was very much alive. It still is today. Maybe more so, due to a resurgence of niche-driven music. For 20 years, and 7 albums…I’m proud to say that the Celtic influence remained a strong backbone of our sound and allowed us to sustain a very successful career. And in November 2016 we capped an extraordinary two-decade career of recording and touring.
Maybe my parents had good taste in music after all.
We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
Launched in 1996 by drummer and lead singer Tim Smith, The Killdares evolved in exciting and sometimes unexpected ways while keeping front and center their core mix of passionate vocals, wailing electric guitar, fiery fiddle and hypnotic bagpipes. Having enjoyed some key personnel changes over the years, the band always showcased a natural musicianship between Smith, 6-time National Fiddle Champion Roberta Rast, and competition piper Matt Willis. Throughout the dramatic changes in the industry since the mid-90s, for 20 YEARS Smith was still able to maintain an extraordinary commitment to the visceral, organic feel of the music and his belief that the greatest creativity and musical magic always lies ahead.
Smith says:
As a songwriter and band leader, the “spark” of inspiration comes when I least expect it. And many times, when I don’t want it. But again, isn’t that the beauty of it? A song rearing its head on its own. My songs are usually born out of an image, concept or idea that I find myself thinking about lately. That eventually translates into some images, which I eventually can write down into lyrics. I tend to write from a place of “imagery” rather than one of more obvious or literal sense.
I’ve always strived to deliver a “universal” message in my writing, while at the same time achieving some sense of deeper, more “personal” touch. This can be a delicate and difficult balance to achieve sometimes. The Killdares have always prided ourselves on making Universal music w/ Universal lyrics. It just happens to be done in a Celtic-tinged format – stretching the boundaries of independent rock n’ roll, while bridging the gap between the traditional and the cutting edge.
Whether playing in front of 10,000 people or a few hundred, we always strived to deliver the same high energy show and were there to make deep, lasting connections with old and new fans. One of the great things about being a quintessential indie band is that there is no template for when and how we performed.
Discography:
“Steal the Sky (2014)
Produced by Jordan Critz (Green River Ordinance, Tim Halperin)
“Up Against the Lights” (2010) – Recorded Live at The Granada Theater in Dallas, TX
Released in 2011 as a three-disc package (2-Audio CD’s/1 DVD) concert collection. Capturing the true “experience” of The Killdares, this pivotal independent release features 21 of their original and cover fan-favorites
“Secrets of the Day” (2008)
Produced by Ronan Chris Murphy, (King Crimson, Terry Bozzio (Zappa, Missing Persons), Steve Stevens (Billy Idol), Tony Levin (Peter Gabriel)
Engineered by Grammy-nominated Chris Bell (Erykah Badu, U2, The Eagles)
Mastered by Robert Vosgien at Capitol Records (The Alarm, No Doubt, Green Day, Flogging Molly, The Chieftains)
“Any Given Element” (2005)
Produced, engineered and mixed by Ronan Chris Murphy
“LIVE” (2002)
Recorded at various venues in Dallas, Texas
“A Place to Stand” (2001)
Produced and engineered by Chris Bell
“Broken with A Word” (1998)
Do current events, local or global, affect your work and what you are focused on?
I believe the role of the artist has definitely changed in today’s musical landscape. When we started in 1996, all we had to worry about was making records. And I mean full-length, physical albums that got played from beginning to end. Front to back. But now, it seems the world presents a new option or new method or new platform or new piece of the puzzle every day…which every artist has to jump on in hopes of just being heard.
The Killdares were always a DIY band and remained fiercely independent before “indie” was even an industry standard term. Over our 20-year career, we saw the birth of the internet, the creation of email, the rise of the compact disc, the fall of the compact disc, the rise of digital recording, the fall of tape recording, the rise of internet radio, the uncertainty of terrestrial radio, the birth of social networking, the launch of iTunes, the death of physical record sales, the birth of instant video, the creation of subscription-based music sites such as Spotify…and the list goes on and on. These are just a few of the things that are now common speak and common necessities for any artist to consider when trying to make a career out of music. It can seem rather daunting. Or in some respects even non-artistic.
Yet it’s these very things that are mandatory to even scratch the surface or gain the slightest traction in the music industry today. Yes, many of these platforms do offer artists the chance for incredible and valuable exposure. But…ironically, when the artist is forced to now face all of these things to survive…some argue that these very things play a part in removing the soul from music; the baseline, human aspects of the art. Which at its core…is really why we make music?
It’s an interesting world we live in, and I hope musicians and artists in general do continue to find ways to break through and circumvent this ever-changing music tapestry. There’s a lot of material out there in the world these days that hopefully continues to become the topic of many songs, because musicians have many an opportunity to give a voice to such events and connect with their fans.
But every so often, it sure would be nice to see individuals watch a concert through their own eyes, and not through the screen of a mobile device. It doesn’t get more human than that. Live in the moment. The art deserves it. And the artist does too.
Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
Website: www.killdares.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thekilldares
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/steal-the-sky/id919710063
Amazon Music: https://www.amazon.com/Steal-Sky-The-Killdares/dp/B00NO2R7G6
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/3O67Bd6RFz32og59EFPOYH?play=true&utm_source=open.spotify.com&utm_medium=open
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/TheKilldaresTV
Contact Info:
- Website: www.killdares.com
Image Credit:
Band photo by: DFW Images
Album images by: Aden Holt, One Ton Graphics
Poster image + 20-Year image: Celeste Randall
Getting in touch: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
