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Tiny Legs Tim

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Tim De Graeve (28 November 1978 – 25 May 2022),[1] known professionally as Tiny Legs Tim, was a Belgian blues guitarist and singer-songwriter. De Graeve also played the harmonica, was the inspirer of the Flemish blues and roots scene in the year 2010, and had his own record label called Sing My Title.[2]

Tiny Legs Tim
Background information
Birth nameTim De Graeve
Born(1978-11-28)November 28, 1978
DiedMay 25, 2022(2022-05-25) (aged 43)
GenresBlues
InstrumentsGuitar, harmonica, stompbox
Years active2007–2022
Websitetinylegstim.com

Biography

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Tim, born and raised in Westouter, discovered the love for the blues music in the record collection of his father, particularly the acoustic album of Blind Lemon Jefferson. From the age of eight he took classical guitar lessons and soon began writing his own songs. At 17 he started his own blues band.[3]

Tim moved to Ghent to study biology at the university and lived there for the remainder of his life. For a while he worked as a teacher where playing music with his band The Heartfakers was just a hobby. During severe health problems in his twenties, Tim focused on learning to play his grandfather's slide guitar, delving into blues classics such as Delta blues and writing songs. At 29, he decided to pursue his dream of a music career after all.[4] In 2009, he released his debut EP Please Dr. Please as Tiny Legs Tim & The Concrete Blues Band.[5] The years after, his focus was on releasing solo work as a singer-songwriter.

His stage name, Tiny Legs, was a reference to his small and lean appearance that was a result of his severe liver disease. The inspiration came from some of his blues heroes such as Blind Willie Johnson, Big Bill Broonzy and Sleepy John Estes who also bear three-part names that often describes a physical characteristic. He found it a funny name that was self-deprecating. It was a way of dealing with his "new" body.[4]

In Ghent, mainly in the borough Klein Turkije (English: Little Turkey), Tiny Legs Tim became the voice of a completely new blues generation, along with fellow blues musician Lightnin' Guy. In 2011, Guy started organizing electric blues jams, first in a small B&B places, then at the Volkshuis. From 2014 to 2018, they co-organized the blues festival Boogieville in De Vooruit's Ballroom.[6]

In 2015, with his help and advice, Tim's good friends Marie Follebout and Jelle de Boevé became owners and founders of the blues and roots concert club Missy Sippy in Klein Turkije, where Tim became their house musician.[7] He performed there numerous times and curated the blues jams. In addition, he and the club sought alternative music styles such as funk, americana, jazz, country, rock and roll, burlesque and soul to give more young musicians a chance. Until his death, Tim organized around thirty concerts for the Missy Sippy Blues & Roots Festival, each time during the ten days of Gentse Feesten in July.[8][9] On the occasion of the club's fifth anniversary, Tim released an album called Missy Sippy All Stars Volume 1 in March 2020 that was recorded with 20-some promising musicians.[10]

To find inspiration in the blues, Tim traveled to Louisiana in the United States in 2017, mainly to New Orleans. African music like Maliblues and Tuareg blues also inspired him by means of their rhythmic feel, with lots of percussion.[11]

Tim performed mostly solo with his so-called One Man Blues Band in clubs and on festivals throughout Europe. He was supporting act of Peter Doherty, John Mayall, The North Mississippi Allstars, Graham Parker, Bombino and Ian Siegal.[12] He had a name of having a strong live reputation.[13]

Tim released all his records independently to maintain complete control over his own musical identity. Thus, he enjoyed making solo records with just him as singer and musician. In 2015, with his third record Stepping Up, Tim started a real record label called Sing My Title. His label releases albums from Flemish blues and roots musicians such as Kaai Man from Temse, Paul Couter, Steven Troch from Mechelen, Little Jimmy and the band A Murder in Mississippi.[14][15][16]

Exactly a year after his death Tim got a posthumous tribute with the release of his single "Death Bells Ringing" on 25 May 2023 and further more on his birthday 28 November the release of the album Sing My Title with fifteen new and unreleased songs, followed by the memorial-concert "Sing My Title: Friends & Artists celebrating Tiny Legs Tim" in Ghent.[17]

Personal life

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Tim suffered from severe liver disease most of his adult life and underwent two liver transplants in his twenties. With the third transplant he died during surgery at the age of 43.[18][12]

Discography

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  • Please Dr. Please - EP - 2009
  • They Say Small Birds Don't Fly Too High - EP - 2010
  • One Man Blues - CD/LP - 2011
  • Constant Constable - EP - 2011
  • Cortisone Blues - single - 2012
  • TLT - CD/LP - 2013
  • Diggin' Deeper - EP - 2013
  • Stepping up - CD/LP - 2015
  • Sad Sad - single - 2016
  • Live at Sint-Jacobs - LP/CD - 2016
  • Melodium Rag - LP/CD - 2017
  • Elsewhere Bound - LP/CD - 2019
  • Future Poets - single - 2019
  • Missy Sippy All Stars Vol. I - LP/CD - 2020
  • Call Us When It's Over - LP/CD - 2020
  • Death Bells Ringing - single - 2023
  • Sing My Title - LP/CD - 2023

Podcasts

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  • Tiny Legs Tim and UZ Gent Hospital: "Success thanks to teamwerk and the blues". Denkzorg.uzgent.be (in Flemish). 2019-11-04.
  • "A tribute to Tiny Legs Tim". Open.spotify.com. Into the Soul of The Blues (in Flemish). 2022-07-08.

Sources and references

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  1. ^ "Funeral service De Ceder". 2022-05-29. Archived from the original on 2022-05-29. Retrieved 2023-01-13.
  2. ^ Cornand, Bart (2022-05-25). "Bluesman Tiny Legs Tim overleden". Focus.knack.be (in Dutch). Retrieved 2022-05-26.
  3. ^ "Tiny Legs Tim - Ik heb veel over mijn einde nagedacht | daMusic". Damusic.be (in Dutch). Retrieved 2022-05-26.
  4. ^ a b "An interview with Belgian bluesman Tiny Legs Tim". Nodepression.com. Retrieved 2023-01-10.
  5. ^ "Tiny Legs Tim & The Concrete Blues Band stellen debuut-EP voor". Nieuwsblad.be (in Flemish). 24 March 2009. Retrieved 2023-01-10.
  6. ^ "Boogieville wekt 'The Blues' terug tot leven". Nieuwsblad.be (in Flemish). 23 January 2014. Retrieved 2023-01-10.
  7. ^ "Overrompeling in nieuwe bluesbar Klein Turkije". Hln.be (in Flemish). 2015-03-09. Retrieved 2023-01-10.
  8. ^ "Missy Sippy Blues & Roots Festival 2019". Blues Magazine (in Dutch). 2019-07-17. Retrieved 2023-01-21.
  9. ^ "Missy Sippy Blues & Roots Festival - Gentse Feesten '22". Blues Magazine (in Dutch). 2022-07-05. Retrieved 2023-01-21.
  10. ^ "Bluescafé Missy Sippy blaast vijf kaarsjes uit: "Als je rijk wilt worden, moet je een andere stiel kiezen"". Hln.be (in Flemish). 2020-02-25. Retrieved 2023-01-10.
  11. ^ Cornand, Bart (2018-09-04). "In de studio bij bluesmuzikant Tiny Legs Tim: 'New Orleans gaf mij het laatste duwtje'". Focus.knack.be (in Dutch). Retrieved 2022-05-26.
  12. ^ a b "Tiny Legs Tim". Vi.be (in Dutch). Retrieved 2022-05-26.
  13. ^ "Bluesmuzikant Tiny Legs Tim (44) overleden, grote verslagenheid bij artiesten". Hln.be (in Dutch). Retrieved 2022-05-26.
  14. ^ Cornand, Bart (2022-02-25). "De Nederswamp van Kaai Man in première: 'In je eigen taal kom je jezelf keihard tegen'". Focus.knack.be (in Dutch). Retrieved 2023-01-13.
  15. ^ "SING MY TITLE is het nieuwe label van Tim De Graeve aka Tiny Legs Tim". Frontview Magazine (in Dutch). 2015-05-17. Retrieved 2023-01-13.
  16. ^ "Metalgitarist Leander (29) wordt folkzanger en maakt plaat die klinkt alsof Gent aan de Mississipi ligt: "Hier zijn we uniek"". Nieuwsblad.be (in Flemish). 10 March 2022. Retrieved 2023-01-10.
  17. ^ Postuum album van bluesman Tiny Legs Tim aangekondigd: luister naar de eerste single ‘Death Bells Ringing’, Humo.be (25 May 2023)
  18. ^ "Bluesmuzikant Tiny Legs Tim op 44-jarige leeftijd overleden | Focus en WTV". Focus-wtv.be (in Dutch). 26 May 2022. Retrieved 2023-01-10.
  19. ^ "Tiny Legs Tim". Tinylegstim.bandcamp.com. Retrieved Jul 25, 2024.
  20. ^ "Tiny Legs Tim". SoundCloud.com. Retrieved Jul 25, 2024.
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