Tim Hulsman Trio
I feel really blessed to have found two other musicians who I have a strong connection with, who like my songs and who genuinely want to play music with me.
So my solo journey is changing shape and morphing into this beautiful little trio, (always with an extra space set aside for Nina to jump up with us and do that magic thing she does with my music.)
Drummer Karl Bentley was the first new member to come along. He sent me an email saying that he had looked into some of my music after seeing a post online advertising for band members, and had been impressed with what he had heard. He also lives in Geelong so it was easy for us to arrange a meeting and have our first jam that week.
I immediately liked Karl as a person and that connection was quickly followed by our obvious musical compatibility. Karl has a beautifully sensitive feel for the drums which suits my songwriting perfectly and won me over in that first jam session. We’ve now done about 6 shows together as a Guitar/Drums duo…to great effect.
Next I contacted Craig Kelly, who plays upright and electric bass, and he came along to a practice session a few weeks ago to see how the three of us would gel. Within about 3 songs I knew he was the right man for the job. An incredibly astute and adaptable musician with great feel, he completed the sound I have been looking for.
I like Craig’s sense of humour (he stirs me up a lot and I need that) as well as being a new dad, so all of us in the band have kids of various ages and that makes it easy to explain (or not have to explain) our needs around availability and commitment etc.
Karl and I were very impressed with his abilities when we did our first show as a trio at the Saints & Sailors, after only that one practice session. I even threw in a few brand new songs that night, that neither Karl or Craig had heard and they still managed to keep up with me…almost. Ha Ha! Well you can’t expect too much can you? It was fun and confirming to see how well we connected in that live situation and were still able to be creative together, in the moment.
I feel really excited about the future as a band. It has lifted my live show delivery and relieved Nina of the stress of trying to be a whole band for me all the time.
Here’s a couple of photo’s from our fist gig together (taken on phone camera…Thanks Jacquie and Cindy.)
I promise a professional photoshoot is coming.
Fantastic! Can’t wait to hear the trio. I’ve worked with Craig at The Chandelier Room before and he’s a lovely chap. Happy Days!