Not sure what Tim Prottey-Jones had done to earn possibly the harshest draw of all, the early morning slot on the Sunday, not only that but on the YETI Tailgate Bar stage, in use only for a few early morning shows. It was a small open air stage with a generator constantly running about 20 yards away from it. Having said all that, a highly respectable crowd had gathered to see Tim including fellow artistes Poppy Fardell, a smattering of members from Morganway and later in the set Kyle Daniel for whom Tim would be playing drums on the main stage for later in the day.
In recent times Tim has more often been accompanied by his "Wall Of Noise" not actually sure they have a name yet, but they provide a great presence of power chords and general oomph behind Tim while he is performing however today it will be just Tim casually attired wth a cap to shield from the morning sun, and his trusty acoustic guitar. It will prove to be an insight into just how some of his songs are constructed and with little else to distract, some of the lyrics that may have previously been overlooked found themselves to be thrust forward into the limelight.
Things opened with "Fire", literally stripped to its bare bones, the line "I know we can burn brighter" seemed to become more intense and prominant in this version. Similarly the Jake Morell co write "Good Life", written in the aftermath of the Caroline Flack affair, revealed new delights - always blessed with a bitingly prescient opening verse, and a gloriously explosive chorus - this time round Tim was able to really spit out the lyrics and was really able to really emphasise the line
"People will never forget how you made them feel" which certainly is one of the key messages from the song.
Tim's debut single "Bite The Bullet", came with lots of production on it, here it was reduced to some gently intricate guitar playing with the lyrics again thrust upfront, revealing a greater depth to the whole song. There was time for a new "Zoom written" song, and with co writers like Jeff Cohen and Ryan Kinder it would be hard to go wrong, and "All I'm Thinking About" strangely had a different feel to the earlier songs, this one seemed ready made for a band to perform, with a particularly hook driven chorus.
For "Until I Do" Tim's duet with Stephanie Quayle, there was something of a vocal adjustment as he entered big ballad mode, this solo version retained all of its power and Tim really went for the bigger notes. There must have been something cursed about the song "Drinking for 3", about the trials and tribulations of getting a son, for not only were his family lost and broken down en route but the song was drowned out somewhat by a soundcheck from the Front Porch stage. Fortunately that noise abated and taking advantage of the momentary silence, Tim closed things with a cover of Brandi Carlile's "The Joke" with an extraordinary vocal performance - even at this early hour - highly entertaining!!!
