Track Marks is a weekly music questionnaire for people who make or simply love music. The people change but the questions remain the same.
This week we check in with Timm Gable, a broadcast producer at Cramer Krasselt, sometime music video producer, and weekly contributor to the indie-leaning daily music blog Songs of the Day.
We caught up with Gable to talk about being a simple kind of man, loving country but not understanding smooth R& B, and the importance of music with a message.
OnMilwaukee.com: What was the first tape/CD/record/8-track you ever owned?
Timm Gable: The first 8-track I owned was Santana's self titled 1969 album "Santana." I think I was a freshman in high school, and had little idea what an 8-track was but the thrift store had this strange looking boxy plastic thing that had a cool Santana sticker on it. Years later when I actually went out and sourced an 8-track player, I picked up an album of the Rev. Al Green.
First CD of significance that I remember was Vanilla Ice. Oh yeah.
OMC: What was the first concert you attended?
TG: First concert I attended was Michael W. Smith. I really connected with "Friends."
OMC: What was the last concert you attended?
TG: The last concert I attended was at Cactus Club to check out The Ragadors. Ben Hall and the gang have a good thing going on.
OMC: Who is one popular musician or music act you just can't understand?
TG: Well there are several, Ke$ha and the likes. I'm also confused by smooth R&B.
OMC: Musically what are you into that you're embarrassed to admit to?
TG: Oh. I do have a guilty pleasure for bubble gum country music. I love it. There's a part in the movie "Ray" where Jamie Foxx is explaining that the reason people love country music so much is because its storytelling. When I heard that line in the film, I realized, "That's it. That's it! That is why I actually enjoy these country songs so much." So yeah, country music and some top 40. Oh, and Phil Collins. Love me some Phil Collins.
OMC: What are you listening to right now?
TG: Locally, its Faux Fir, a lot and Eric & Magill. They have a track called "I Hear Trumpets" that I have on repeat.
Nationally, this Kanye album is out of this world. I hear new layers to it every time I put it on, which personally might be my biggest indicator of a great album. The album I listened to the most in 2010 was an album of John Prine covers called "Broken Hearts & Dirty Windows." Check out the line-up on that one, it's amazing.
OMC: What song do you want played at your funeral?
TG: Easy, "Simple Man" by (Lynyrd) Skynyrd.
OMC: What artist changed your life and how?
TG: Hard to narrow it down to an artist, but a genre would have to be some select '70s bands. While I've moved on from most of the '70s era, there was an early and formidable period in my listening days where I discovered a lot in that music. Strip away the obvious criticisms of the hippies, drug culture and tie-dye and so much of that music was politically charged and an art form being used as a social weapon. The lyrics had intent, the music had intent and it was good. Most of the pop culture around me at the time was junk. My dad was having me listen to old Jim Croce, Crosby Stills Nash and Young, and Janice Joplin. It was an important transition for me.
OMC: If you could see anyone perform past or present who would it be?
TG: Impossible to answer.
OMC: If you could spend one day with any artist living or dead who would it be?
TG: I think a day with Jack White would be a trip. Not the biggest fan of all he does, but I really latched on when he produced that Loretta Lynn album. I like his style of keeping it dirty and not over-produced. There's a track on there called "Portland Oregon" that they recorded in like one or two takes, so I hear. I like that. He seems to connect to music on a strange, organic, unique way.
I also wouldn't mind going way back and being around a Mendelssohn or Mussorgsky. Can you imagine pulling "Night On Bald Mountain" out of thin air and writing it down on paper with quill and ink? There's a certain insanity in that skill that applies only to genius.
OMC: If you were stranded on an island with one record for the rest of your life what would it be?
TG: This "Broken Hearts & Dirty Windows" album might just be it.
