Tim Kane - All I Know

Tim Kane

All I Know
self-released; 2015

3.1 out of 5

By Jamie Funk

Tim Kane is a formally trained trombonist and drummer so I’m glad those two elements show up on his debut album All I Know. It’s obvious after listening to his debut that he doesn’t have too much experience in other places. He’s a work in progress as a songwriter and especially as a singer but everyone has to start somewhere.

There are some decent songs on his album but unfortunately they are held back by underwhelming production. The quality of recording is probably less than that of demo and better production from an experienced engineer would have help smoothed out some of the sour notes he sings and created some separation between instruments for starters. 

The album opens with a straightforward rocker entitled “Follow Your Dreams.” It is a predictable yet catchy song. The chorus is a bit squeamish with platitudes that you tell someone in grade school. After a decent opener Kane plays into his strengths with “Gift of Life.” The drumming and trombone are the best elements of the song.

That leads me to “Traps (Drum solo tribute to Buddy Rich)” which is Kane’s forte. It’s an old school (as the title implies) big band type drum solo. “Danielle” was a decent tune but the song is so muddy that I couldn’t make out any of the lyrics. As the album progresses the other standouts are “Tall Tree” and “Duke Awakens (Drum solo tribute to Steve Gadd).”  

Kane considers his first album a segue to a better second one. I encourage him to befriend an engineer, record at a studio or learn a little more about recording first because improving the recording quality will also make the experience better. Kane also may want to consider working with a vocalist if he continues to have trouble staying in key. 

There are some decent songs, some good ideas but the implementation could use some improvement. Kane has a bit of work ahead but with tweaking could take it to the next level.

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