Joel Timmons was lucky enough to hear Loudon Wainwright III sing “The Swimming Song” in 2017 at Rocky Mountain Folks Festival. “It made an unforgettable impression,” says Timmons of one of his singer/songwriter hero’s best-known songs. “I’ve always loved the original version and the childlike perspective of the narrator.”
Through the decades, fans have strived to impart a deeper meaning to the tune since its original release in 1973. But Wainwright has always maintained it’s about nothing more than his love of swimming as a kid. Timmons shares that connection to the water. A native of Sullivan’s Island, S.C., his passion for surfing once rivaled his love of music.
Timmons formed the Charleston-based Sol Driven Train in 2000 with lifelong friends Ward Buckheister and Russell Clarke. The proudly independent quintet’s versatile mashup of folk, Americana, roots rock and New Orleans-style brass was just finding a larger audience when Timmons’ immune system was sideswiped by Guillain-Barré syndrome in 2004 during an extended stay in India, leaving him hospitalized, unable to move and hooked to a ventilator and feeding tubes.
After a lengthy recovery, Timmons was able to return to Sol Driven Train. He also began playing guitar and singing with Lovers Leap, Sam Rae, Yarn and other acts. In 2012, he met Shelby Means, then the bass player for Grammy-nominated bluegrassers Della Mae. The two later married and formed the duo Sally & George.
Keeping himself busy in Nashville of late, Timmons tapped another friend and collaborator, Maya de Vitry, to produce Psychedelic Surf Country, his self-released solo debut, which is out February 7.
“Maya helped me pick ‘The Swimming Song’ when we were sifting through material for the record,” says Timmons. “Maya and Shelby’s background vocals shine, along with the surf-rock groove from the band. I dig the tone of my 1968 Ovation Thunderhead guitar pumping through a Mesa Boogie amp.”
We’re proud to premiere Joel Timmons’ “The Swimming Song” video.
—Hobart Rowland
See Joel Timmons live.
