Tim Wheatley gets his music break
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Musical son … Tim Wheatley left Australia to model and returns as a solo singer songwriter. Picture: News Corp Australia
Source: Supplied
TIM Wheatley went to Los Angeles to model and returned home as a solo singer songwriter.
The son of John Farnham’s manager Glenn has been performing in bands for a decade before striking out as a solo artist when he moved to the US almost two years ago.
The offer of a modelling contract with Next came just as he contemplated giving up on his music career.
“I’m the go-to guy if they are looking for a long-haired tattooed midget,” Wheatley joked.
Wheatley had played with the Sparrows and Rushcutter before releasing an EP under the alias Crooked Saint two years ago.
He has now decided to record under the name his dad and mum Gaynor gave him as his music starts to find support from influential American college stations for his latest single Burning The Midnight Oil.
Support act … Wheatley is cutting his teeth with opening slots on The Whitlams and Ryan Bingham tours. Picture: News Corp Australia
Source: Supplied
“I had almost conceded that was it for me as a musician but I played an old bandmate my solo demos and he got me back on the bike,” Wheatley says.
While he started playing bass like his Masters Apprentices father, Wheatley now juggles guitar, harmonica and a kick drum.
And singing with his unmistakably Australian accent.
“I am basically speaking in tune,” he says of his voice.
“I use some particularly Australian expressions in my lyrics and sometimes the Americans have no clue what you are singing about.”
Proud parents … Gaynor and Glenn Wheatley support their son’s musical dreams. Picture: Supplied
Source: News Limited
While modelling took him to Los Angeles, he said there are more opportunities for him to share his folk-flecked music in the US than in Australia where he falls into the crack between alternative and mainstream genres.
“There is a great singer songwriter scene there, these small clubs that get an audience because people know what they are going to see. They want to sit and listen,” he says.
Wheatley opens for The Whitlams at the Metro Theatre on Saturday, the Welcome Hotel, Rozelle on Sunday, Northcote Social Club, Melbourne on Tuesday, the Spotted Mallard, Brunswick on Wednesday and the Howlin’ Wolf, Wollongong on October 24.
