Joel Timmons on Diversification and Teaching Geology

Photo credit: Scott Simontacchi

Tell us about your tour vehicle. Any notable breakdown stories?

I am currently touring in a 2006 Dodge Sprinter cargo van, converted into a camper. It’s got a little over 200,000 miles on it. It’s got a rebuilt engine that the previous owner put in. Last summer, I was driving solo over the mountain pass between Erwin TN and Asheville NC when a strong smell of diesel began filling the cab. I pulled off to a scenic overview as thick white smoke began billowing from the hood and out of the dash. My mind immediately did an inventory of the van, figuring I may only have a minute to get my guitars out before the vehicle burned up.

Fortunately, when I popped the hood, there were no flames. Rather there was a fuel leak and the diesel was vaporizing into clouds on the hot engine block. I was in a very remote area with no cell service, so after letting the engine cool, I started trying to find the source of the leak. It didn’t take long to find a busted hose clamp on a return line. Fortunately for me I had tools and a spare clamp in the van, and I was able to make the roadside repair and get down the road back to Charleston.

How do you eat cheaply and/or healthy while on tour?

It’s always a challenge. When I’m traveling in the camper van, I have a fridge and freezer and kitchen. If I’m traveling through airports and rental cars, it’s often hotel breakfast, lunch stop at Whole Foods hot bar, and Vietnamese pho for dinner. I always carry a bag of emergency mixed nuts and cans of sardines.

How many strings do you break in a typical year? How much does it cost to replace them?

I change the strings most frequently on my acoustic guitars. Probably going through 25-30 sets a year at around $10 a piece. I use flat wound strings on my Ovation electric, which are more expensive ~$17. I probably go through 10-15 sets per year.

Where do you rehearse?

My wife and I live in a small studio apartment, so our living room/bedroom has to transform into a rehearsal space. Two upright basses, a large percussion collection, and dozens of guitars and amps make it a challenge to keep things tidy and creative.

What was the title and a sample lyric from the first song that you wrote?

Oh, I remember a few melodramatic lines from my first attempt at songwriting. Typical 13yo emo.

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“My life is full of that misery.
You love everybody, but you can’t stand me
I want to run away, so I can be free
I want to die young, baby can’t you see”

Describe your first gig.

I was in an early American folk ensemble with some other kids at a local arts center in the early 90s. We played our first gig at a Barnes and Nobles out by the mall in Charleston. The gig was Groundhog Day, so we named ourselves The Groundhogs. Set list included “Friend of the Devil” “Poor Wayfaring Stranger” “Hard Times” Our parents came and cheered us on, but I don’t think anyone else cared.

What was your last day job? What was your favorite day job?

Driving Uber in Nashville when I first moved to town was a great way to learn the city and pick up flexible work. Then the transmission in my car failed, erasing all my earnings….

My favorite day job was teaching Geology labs at the College of Charleston. I was lucky to be living on Folly Beach, commuting downtown by motorcycle, and teaching young coeds about plate tectonics and brachiopods.

How has your music-related income changed over the past 5-10 years? What do you expect it to look like 5-10 years from now?

My income has been stable, climbing slowly out of the devastation of the Covid pandemic. Things were definitely looking up in 2020 until all the gigs went away. Federal assistance and grants from MusicCares kept us afloat, but it was a challenge to rebuild a touring schedule in the wake of all the upheaval. My band members in Sol Driven Train became more home-focused, and my wife and musical partner, Shelby Means, got a gig touring in Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway. These days my income is more diversified, as I am involved in several different fulfilling projects: Maya De Vitry, Sol Driven Train, Sally & George, and occasional solo performances.

What one thing do you know now that you had wished you knew when you started your career in music?

I wish that early on, I had appreciated the value in paying someone what they are worth. As a DIY artist, I’ve had to be really good about keeping the budget low and bartering with other creatives. Only recently have I realized that it’s sometimes better to cough up the cash for goods and services rather than haggling for the best possible deal in the short term. Building long lasting relationships with mutual respect and benefit is the best currency I have in my music career.

Guitarist, songwriter, and producer Joel Timmons has been a lifelong collaborator, a veteran as one musical part of a greater whole. Now, with his debut solo album, Psychedelic Surf Country (releasing Feb. 7, 2025), the career musician, band leader, and sideman finds himself as the focal point, center stage. The songs and stories in this collection–and the vibrant community that helped make them–are the starlight guiding Timmons to his very own moment. This maybe a solo album, but it’s certainly not a solitary one.

Psychedelic Surf Country effortlessly combines so many varied parts of Timmons’ life, loves, and experiences dressed in just as many genres and styles. Produced by Maya de Vitry–an artist he often tours with as a band member–Timmons’ first album under his own name is wild and free, but equally intentional and deep. Country sounds blend with bluegrass pickers and the down-to-earth grunge of folk rock; poetic lyrics walk hand-in-hand with hilarious honky-tonking numbers and meditative, cyclical ponderings. There are moments of psychedelia, of jamgrass, tinges of Jimmy Buffett and recollections of Marty Stuart.

Born and raised in Charleston, South Carolina, the low country and coastal life have always been a huge part of Timmons. He was just a teenager when he met his future Sol Driven Train bandmates, later forming the group together in college. Still active more than two decades later, touring around the country, the Caribbean, and the world, Sol Driven Train have carved a pathway to success that’s always been self-defined, while giving Timmons a canvas for honing and re-honing his songs and playing. It’s a huge part of why Psychedelic Surf Country also feels equally at home on the beach or in a honky tonk–or even beneath the black lights and lasers at a late night festival set.

Connect with Timmons online and on the road.