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Sally Timms
Timms at a microphone, photographed from below
Timms performing with the Mekons at the Hideout, Chicago, Illinois on 13 July 2015
Background information
Born (1959-11-29) 29 November 1959 (age 64)
Leeds, England
Occupation(s)Musician, lyricist, producer
InstrumentVocals
Years active1980–present
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1998; div. 2004)​

Sally Ann Timms[1] (born 29 November 1959) is an English singer and songwriter. Born in Leeds, England, she now lives in the Chicago area, where she works as a paralegal.[2] She is best known for her long involvement as the co-lead singer with the post-punk band The Mekons whom she joined in 1985,[3][4][5] and who have been described as "arguably be the longest-running of all bands that emerged in the British punk explosion of 1977".[6]

Timms has had a successful solo career in the lo-fi electronics and alternative country genres, notably writing the song "Horses", covered by Will Oldham.

Career

Born in Leeds in 1959,[3][7] Timms recorded her first solo album, Hangahar (an experimental improvised film score), at the age of 19 with Pete Shelley of Buzzcocks in 1980.[3] Prior to joining The Mekons in 1986 she was in a band called the She Hees.[3][8] She has released several other solo albums, Someone's Rocking My Dreamboat in 1988, To the Land of Milk and Honey in 1995, and a country album, Cowboy Sally's Twilight Laments for Lost Buckaroos, for Bloodshot Records in 1998. She gave herself the name "Cowboy Sally" after the character she played on TNT's Rudy and GoGo Show.[9][10][11] Her solo recording In the World of Him was released in 2004 on Touch and Go Records.[9][10][12][13]

Timms sang "Give Me Back my Dreams" on The Sixths' Hyacinths and Thistles and has recorded with Marc Almond, The Aluminum Group, Jon Rauhouse's Steel Guitar Show, the Sadies,[14] Andre Williams, and A Grape Dope. She participated in Vito Acconci's Theater Project for a Rock Band as part of the Brooklyn Academy of Music's Next Wave Festival in 1995 and also, along with the rest of The Mekons, performed with Kathy Acker in her lesbian pirate operetta Pussy, King of the Pirates at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago and elsewhere.[7][15]

Timms' musical style is often placed under the genre of alternative country,[16] and she has often toured with other bands on Bloodshot Records.[17] She sang several songs on the Pine Valley Cosmonauts' The Executioner's Last Songs albums, which raised funds for the Illinois Moratorium Against the Death Penalty, and participated in fellow Mekon Jon Langford's multi-media performance project The Executioner's Last Songs.[18] She co-wrote the song Horses, which was recorded by herself and Jon Langford on Songs of False Hope and High Values; by Palace Music, a.k.a. Bonnie Prince Billy.[19]

She was the voice of SARA from Cartoon Network's Toonami block, voicing the first incarnation of the character from 1999 to 2004 alongside Steve Blum, the voice of TOM.[20] In 2006(?) Timms directed the first of the five Christmas pantos hosted by the Hideout bar in Chicago, and performed in several of them.[16][21][22][23]

For many years Timms has lived in the Chicago, Illinois area, where she also works as a paralegal.[17] She was married to musician and comedian Fred Armisen from 1998 to 2004.[24][25]

The Mekons

Main article: The Mekons

Timms joined post-punk band The Mekons in the mid-1980s. A documentary titled The Revenge of the Mekons was released in 2014 by director Joe Angio.[26] The band's style has evolved to incorporate aspects of country music, folk music, alternative rock and occasional experiments with dub.[27] They are known for their raucous live shows.[28] The band, still including Timms on vocals, continue to record and perform live, as of 2021.[citation needed]

Wee Hairy Beasties

Main article: Wee Hairy Beasties

Wee Hairy Beasties were a children's music group based in Chicago, composed of Jon Langford, Sally Timms, Kelly Hogan, and Devil in a Woodpile. They played their first gig together at the Brookfield Zoo near Chicago, and released two albums in 2006 and 2008. Timms performed under the moniker Monkey Double Dippey.[29][30]

Solo, etc.

Timms and Jon Langford, the other Chicago-based member of the Mekons, continue to collaborate on various recording and performance projects, ever since they both moved to Chicago. As of 2022, they frequently perform as a duo, and as a trio with a second guitarist, often at Chicago's Hideout.[31][32]

Solo discography

Compilation contributions

  • 2000: "Glue" by Andre Williams/V. Rice/O.M. Hayes) – Down to the Promised Land: 5 Years of Bloodshot Records – as Andre Williams & Sally Timms
  • 2005: "Tumbling Tumbleweeds" – For A Decade of Sin: 11 Years of Bloodshot Records
  • 2007: "Junco Partner" and "Version Pardner" – The Sandinista! Project – A Tribute to The Clash – Jon Langford and Sally Timms with Ship & Pilot (00:02:59 Records/MRI Associated Labels)[35][36]
  • 2014: "Mole Lotta Love", with Bobcat Goldthwait – 2776, the charity comedy album

References

  1. ^ "Little Tommy Tucker". ASCAP. American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
  2. ^ Lipez, Zachary. "Mekons Finally Get Their Revenge: An Interview with Sally Timms of the Long Running UK Band". Vice.com, 17 July 2015. Retrieved 21 September 2024
  3. ^ a b c d Sally Timms at Allmusic
  4. ^ "Sally Timms - ArtsBeat Blog - The New York Times". Artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com.
  5. ^ Pareles, Jon (7 August 2011). "Celebrating a Twisted, Elegant Versifier" – via NYTimes.com.
  6. ^ Caligiuri, Jim. "Ten Minutes with Sally Timms". The Austin Chronicle, 16 April 2016. Retrieved 21 September 2024
  7. ^ a b Wallenfeldt, Jeff "the Mekons" in Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 16 September 2013
  8. ^ Grow, Kory (2007) "Five Mekons Records That Make Jon Langford and Sally Timms Proud to be Mekons", CMJ New Music Monthly, August–September 2007, pp. 10–11. Retrieved 16 September 2013
  9. ^ a b "Sally Timms at Touch & Go Records. Retrieved 16 September 2013
  10. ^ a b Murphy, Matthew (2004) "Sally Timms In the World of Him", Pitchfork Media, 3 October 2004. Retrieved 16 September 2013
  11. ^ Sandlin, Michael (1999) "Sally Timms Cowboy Sally's Twilight Laments for Lost Buckaroos", Pitchfork Media, 16 November 1999. Retrieved 16 September 2013
  12. ^ Milner, Greg (1999) "Reviews", Spin, December 1999. Retrieved 16 September 2013
  13. ^ Soults, Franklin (1999) "Sally Timms Cowboy Sally's Twilight Laments for Lost Buckaroos", CMJ New Music Monthly, December 1999. Retrieved 16 September 2013
  14. ^ "THE SADIES w/ Sally Timms & Jon Langford". Chicago Reader. Retrieved 21 September 2024
  15. ^ Obejas, Achy (1997) "'Pussy, King Of The Pirates' Awash In Sea Of Rock", Chicago Tribune, 21 September 1997. Retrieved 16 September 2013
  16. ^ a b "Christmas Pyrate Panto", Time Out Chicago, 3 April 2005. Retrieved 16 September 2013
  17. ^ a b Powers, Ann (14 December 1999). "Pop Review; A Sweet, Lonely Sadness, Both Painful and Artful". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  18. ^ "The Executioner's Last Songs: Volumes 2 and 3", Billboard. Retrieved 16 September 2013
  19. ^ Thorn, Jese. "Will Oldham, aka Bonnie "Prince" Billy, on the song that changed his life. NPR, 10 November 2010. Retrieved 21 September 2024
  20. ^ "Toonami. behindthevoiceactors.com. Retrieved 21 September 2024
  21. ^ Arnett, Lisa (20 December 2007). "Best Bets". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
  22. ^ "Hideout Christmas Dinosaur Panto". Chicago Reader. December 2008. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
  23. ^ Rami (28 December 2009). "Benefit Panto Performance in Chicago". Bloodshot Records. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
  24. ^ Lloyd, Robert (21 January 2011). "Television review: 'Portlandia'". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
  25. ^ "Fred Armisen, Elisabeth Moss Marriage: Actor Admits He Was 'A Terrible Husband'". Huffington Post. 8 January 2013. Retrieved 16 September 2013.
  26. ^ Tannenbaum, Rob (24 October 2014). "The Cult Band That Keeps on Chugging: A Documentary Celebrates the Mekons". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 December 2014.
  27. ^ Pareles, Jon (17 December 1989). "Recordings; The Mekons Take Aim at Rock-and-Roll". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
  28. ^ Watrous, Peter (30 August 1993). "Review/Rock; A Sound With a Sense Of History, and Humor". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
  29. ^ Melzer, Ashley (5 June 2012). "Interview: Kelly Hogan". eMusic.com. eMusic.com Inc. Archived from the original on 11 November 2013. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  30. ^ "Wee Hairy Beasties". Bloodshot Records. 5 December 2013. Retrieved 23 October 2018.
  31. ^ "Jon Langford and Sally Timms". Hideout Inn. 2019. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  32. ^ "Performance calendar: 01/23/22 - Jon Langford & Sally Timms". Bob Stane's Coffee Gallery Backstage. 2022. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  33. ^ "Sally Timms Biography, Songs, & Albums". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 6 November 2021. Retrieved 6 November 2021.
  34. ^ "Cowboy Sally's Twilight Laments for Lost Buckaroos". The Austin Chronicle. Archived from the original on 6 November 2021. Retrieved 6 November 2021.
  35. ^ "Junco Partner by Jon Langford and Sally Timms with Ship & Pilot". Secondhand Songs. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  36. ^ Deming, Mark. "Various Artists: The Sandinista! Project". AllMusic. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
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