2016 has been a great year for Tim Atwood! After the release of his critically acclaimed debut album Buy This Piano A Drink, Tim signed with i2i Records and in July released a passion project close to his roots That Old Time Religion. Earlier this year Tim won an award from the Academy of Western Artists for AWA Instrumentalist of The Year. And his performance in June at The Texas Troubadour Theatre had the largest crowd the Midnight Jamboree has seen in years.
Word is spreading that Tim Atwood is more than a musician, more than a singer; he is an entertainer. And he should be. After all, Tim Atwood learned from the best.
For 30+ years Tim played piano for music’s elite at The Grand Ole Opry backing legends that included Vince Gill, Garth Brooks, Carrie Underwood, Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, Jim Ed Brown, Jeannie Seely and Little Jimmy Dickens. Tim’s versatility on keys allowed him the opportunity to play outside the country box, performing with Barry Gibb, Bob Hope, Don Ho, Keb Mo, Lisa Marie Presley and Jewel.
As a young man playing for Grand Ole Opry patriarch Roy Acuff, Mr. Acuff relinquished large portions of his Opry segments to Tim to wow the crowd. Bashful Brother Oswald, a longtime member of Roy’s Smoky Mountain Boys, once joked, “Roy must really like Tim. He didn’t even give Elvis an encore!”
Beyond the stage Tim continues to be a sought after studio musician recording with some of those same artists with whom he shared the spotlight’s fringe—artists who include Dolly Parton, Ray Price, George Jones, Bobby Bare and Charley Pride.
Tim’s TV appearances include Opry Live, Opry Backstage, Late Night with David Letterman, Nashville on The Road, Nashville Now, Pop Goes The Country, On Stage, Hee Haw, The Morning Show and features on CBS and NBC news. Tim is the reigning AWA Instrumentalist of The Year. He is the ten time musical director for The Inspirational Country Music Awards, staff player for the WSM/Durango stage during CMA Fest, and has composed theme music and musical beds for a variety of TV and radio productions, including a national campaign for Easter Seals. In November Tim will host The Midnight Jamboree for the fourth time and will conclude the year as a headliner for a series of holiday Opry shows in Texas.
As an artist, Tim has a musical arsenal at the ready that includes hundreds of selections. Tim can fire off a country song with ease, pull the trigger on a rock-n-roll favorite, reload with some back water blues, and win the day with a gospel classic.
As a showman, Tim is a high energy package with a quick wit and an unpredictable sense of humor who will engage the audience to buckle in for a roller coaster ride of laughs and emotions.
Tim Atwood will entertain you.
More About Tim…Tim was raised in a music loving household in Peoria, Illinois. As a boy he remembers watching his Uncle Tommy Atwood sing tenor for The Florida Boys—now members of The Southern Gospel Music Hall of Fame. He knew from the first time he saw his Uncle Tommy perform that he too wanted to be an entertainer.
When Tim was thirteen years old, he started his career as a drummer for the gospel group The Harris Family. Harris Family piano man Dave Galloway taught Tim a Floyd Crammer lick on the keyboard. Tim was hooked.
At the age of eighteen, a chance encounter and a word of encouragement from Faron Young was all it took for Tim to sell his home and move to Nashville. Two weeks after arriving in Music City Tim was playing piano for Mel Street…followed by a short hitch with Lynn Anderson…and three years on the road with Jim Ed Brown.
It was during that time that piano great Jerry Whitehurst took an interest in Tim as a player…Tim began to sub for Jerry on The Grand Ole Opry which lead to a full time position playing piano on The Opry…a run that lasted almost forty years.
Buy This Piano A Drink was Tim’s first CD showcasing his own talents as an artist. He has since released his first gospel album That Old Time Religion on i2i Records, returning to the gospel roots of his youth.