The Music…

Tim “Timber” Masterson has been in and amongst Toronto, ON’s music scene for as long as he could remember. His earliest memories came from listening to his mother play the family’s 100-year-old Steinway piano, an instrument he now still plays to compose his own songs. “Timber” often recalls other strong memories of working out melodies and accompanying female vocalists during stints at his arts based high school. These early memories and the excitement of creating with others has always stayed with him.

During this same decade, Timber moved to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career. He also lived in New York City during the era of the club kid where he fell into another kind of dark late-night scene. His addictions would catch up with him in later years, though he managed to survive it all, and wrote a book about his experiences living on the edge, and ultimately recovering.

Heavens So Dark was Masterson’s first full album.

It’s the result of his artistic and creative musical journey which has spanned a lifetime - playing piano at the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood, guitar at The Viper Room in Los Angeles, and organizing warehouse jams in Toronto and New York. As a young adult, Timber (a nickname given to him by a girlfriend in the nineties), found himself at the forefront of Toronto's after-hours warehouse party and arts scene; this playground was Tim’s launch pad for orchestrating art house parties and events for both the literary and music scenes. This era in his life is what inspired Timber to produce his own music. For several tracks on this collection, Tim brought in the talented singer Kate Suhr, to do backups, known for her searing and fluid vocal stylings and Andrew Affleck, bassist extraordinaire, with a Jaco Pastorius kind of feel, both from the Peterborough region.

His lyrics are heartfelt and personal, revealing a sense of longing that remains continually present throughout his work. Tim has always been drawn to dark and heavy minor nine and suspended chords on the piano.

“These days I'm writing from a much different place; a place of hope, huge for me and a big change which I'm thankful for. It's great when the melodies pour out of you, connect, and resonate from a pure place and touch others.  Also, it's wonderful when one finds a new muse to be inspired by, even when that muse disappears from your life, the spirit is always there."