“Some good music, a mouth full of food and a smile on my face was his saving grace.”
This feature’s artist, Tim Hall, is the epitome of music and food fusion. A multi-talented jazz musician, spoken word artist and bonafide foodie; I enjoyed every minute of my interview with Tim. Growing up in Detroit, Michigan with a father hailing from Savannah, Georgia, Hall was destined to have a fine appreciation for good food. The men on Tim’s side of the family, particularly his father and brothers, are all skilled cooks in the kitchen and grill side. His father had a requirement of the men in the Hall family to learn how to cook as he felt it was an important way to learn about their heritage through cooking. Tim grew up learning to experiment with making different foods and also making the most out of food that’s available. Home was very much about sharing, finding and being your most authentic self for Tim.
Motown and soul music from Detroit are a large part of Tim’s development into music. Also, his father was a very big musician hailed for his walls of collected records. Hall got his start into music at the age of 8 years old where he initially chose to play the drums, but then chose the saxophone from the strong Smooth Jazz influence of his childhood. Names like Miles Davis, Dave Koz and Kirk Whalum were strong inspirations as Tim developed his craft. He also gravitated to the Southern and Detroit Rock genres with artists like Lynyrd Skynyrd ,Kid Rock and Kiss as a part of his listening repertoire. Tim also loved classic artists such as Patti Labelle; Earth, Wind & Fire and Aretha Franklin as well as the Classical music genre itself. At the age of 17, he began performing in professional gigs in local bars, restaurants and many music festivals. He was inspired by older local musicians, that would invite young musicians to their gigs to observe and understand the possibility of music as a career.
A graduate of Bowling Green State University in Ohio, Tim majored in Sports Management due to his strong interest in golf and Entrepreneurship. He also joined the gospel choir at college and began to tour. After college, he moved to Minneapolis to work for the PGA Tour and was immersed into the highly engaging local arts scene. It was there that Tim was pushed out of his comfort zone and really began to grow in his craft of poetry. He then moved to Iowa City for work and was again surprised at the vibrant arts scene in Iowa. It was there he started a band called O(Oh) S(So) G (Go) that was 90’s cover band which allowed him to learn entire catalogs based on the requests of the fan base for local gigs. It was there where he received his Master’s in Higher Education and connected with a band called It’s Complicated, who were the touring band for Nappy Roots.
Also in Iowa, Tim joined a poetry collective with a theatrical vibe and he began performing more and more poetry. At the advice of a professor, Tim applied for a job at the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA. He got the job as Residence Director at Berklee and drove from Iowa to Boston to start his next chapter. It was here that Tim transitioned into his career and eventually accepted a teaching position on faculty with Berklee. This position enabled him to continue to pursue his career in higher education and also to focus on various music projects along with his poetry. Tim loves working with students and DIY music projects, thus leading to more opportunities and projects. He identifies himself as a Spoken Word artist with performances in Jazz, R&B, Hip-Hop and Neo-Soul music genres as well.
Tim’s poetry speaks to so many tangible life topics, journeys and issues including the journey of masculinity as a black man. He believes poetry paints vivid imagination and imagery to normalize the beauties of life through his love of life and humanity. Tim is an amazingly positive and inspirational person. He wants his poetry to be understood by anyone rather than having to dissect his work similar to the older cerebral poets of the past. He keeps it plain, simple and tangible; welcoming anyone to listen to his work. He talks about the good and the bad, taking his audiences on a journey of rich experiences and emotions. He was most recently nominated for “Session Musician of the Year” by the 2018 & 2019 Boston Music Awards. And the project he co-founded, HipStory House Party Digital is nominated for Boston Music Awards Live Music Stream of the Year for 2020 through their virtual monthly concerts for local artists.
Over the next year, Tim will continue to work in his digital media company, HipStory, centering on the modularized identities in media and film. The goal is to change the future history of Hip-Hop. He will also continue playing in the Hip-Hop Blues and Rock band, STL GLD and Cliff Notez. Check out their latest video for the single, My Block, in the video below. He will also continue playing with Will Bailey and Oompa, the Chocolate Factory Band. Check out the links below for any of Tim’s amazing talents and positive impact.
Check out Tim’s Poetry Book called “Trust the Process”
Tim Hall’s EP Colors of My Soul on Soundcloud
Check out the HipStory Website
Like Tim Hall on Facebook
For Tim Hall, the list of foods he loves goes on and on. He is truly a foodie with a long list of so many different foods he enjoys. When he’s feeling nostalgic, Tim loves his Dad’s Southern Mac n Cheese baked the old fashioned way with four cheeses, eggs, sage, paprika and a little brown sugar. He also loved his mom’s shepherd’s pie that was her quick go to meal for the family with ground turkey, KC Masterpiece BBQ sauce, peas, corn, mashed potatoes and topped with cheese and paprika. The list goes on and on for favorites! He will try pizza and mac n cheese anywhere.; and Tim loves seafood like salmon, cod and shrimp as he’s recently made more changes for a healthier lifestyle, although, he still eats bacon from time to time 🙂 Ground turkey, broccoli and rice bowls are go-to noshes for Tim when he needs a quick and healthy meal. He absolutely loves Latin foods from not-so mainstream dishes to tacos, different chorizos and quesadillas. Avocados are amazing to Tim and breakfast his one of his favorite all time meals. Waffles, French toast and eggs are a must have for him. To wrap up his savory faves, Tim loves grilling and BBQ. It brings him so much joy to grill and try all the fun sauces and rubs. He’s also been trying the cannabis infused foods as a new endeavor in his foodie curiosity. For snacks, Tim is obsessed with trying different and new flavors of chips. In fact, one of his current projects called SNX is a video series sharing favorite snacks of Tim and co-hosts. For his sweet tooth, Tim loves anything salted caramel. Vanilla cake and ice cream are top contenders in the sweets department for him along with a blondie a la mode and red velvet cupcakes.
The list goes on and on for Tim; and I found myself nodding “yes” for most of our chat. Someone who is always willing to try something new with such a positive outlook on life and people; the range of Tim’s love of food and music seems endless. I decided to go nostalgic for Tim’s feature and attempt to re-create his father’s Mac n Cheese recipe. Also, its just around that time where we start looking for good recipes for our upcoming holiday meals! One note about this recipe, however, is a sensitive spot for recipes handed down from families because they can never truly be replicated. There’s just something special that goes into those memorable family meals from grandparents and/or parents that is very hard to replicate. I always find myself going “It tastes great but its just not the same as when they made it.” I’m positive this recipe will ring the same way, however, it could be a good second place recipe when you’re away from family. This recipe is rich, creamy and cheesy. It is not for the faint mac n cheese connoisseurs, and could truly be a meal by itself. Check out the recipe below!
Baked Mac n Cheese Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 eggs, whisked
- 1 12oz canned evaporated milk
- ½ cup whole milk
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon dry mustard
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 3 cup Off the Block Four State Natural Shredded Cheddar Cheese
- 1 cup Muenster, shredded
- 1 cup Gruyere, Shredded
- 1/4 Pecorino
- Pink Himalayan salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
- Smoked Paprika
- 16 ounces uncooked macaroni
Directions
Leave A Comment