Tim Easton has been singing and writing songs since he was 14 years old. He never considered another career. After finishing college, Easton hit the road with his guitar and spent seven years singing and playing on European street corners. When he got back to Ohio, Easton joined the Haynes Boys, a roots-rock outfit that made one album before breaking up. Free again, Easton picked up his guitar and returned to the road, touching down long enough to make nine albums that earned him a loyal following with their blend of gritty roots-rock and heartfelt songwriting. Every LP took a slightly different approach and his latest, Not Cool, shows off his love of rockabilly and early R&B. Easton will be quest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our new feature on him.
Easton: There’s a collection of short stories called Kentucky Strait that I purloined a sentiment or two from when I was first learning to write songs. It was written by Chris Offutt. The book is a collection of related stories revolving around a holler in East Kentucky, and I began writing more after I read it. That book and his second collection, The Same River Twice, taught me a little about telling stories and a lot about brevity. I could say the same for Jesus’ Son by Denis Johnson.
Last time I ran into Chris Offutt, he was teaching at the Iowa Writer’s Workshop. Today you’ll find his words in many a script. True Blood, Weeds. He may have moved back to Kentucky. Anybody will tell you it’s a hard place to leave. You meet people from Ohio all over the damn planet. You can probably count the number of Kentuckians you’ll meet out there on one hand.
