Indiana born Tim Showalter, who performs as Strand of Oaks had initially hoped for a career in athletics. His interest in playing basketball ended when he developed juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. Athletics was replaced by interests in music and teaching, leading him to the Philadelphia area. After returning to Indiana to propose marriage to his girlfriend, Showalter was devastated by rejection after initially her saying ‘Yes’. This fueled a period of songwriting and recording that would not appear until years later on his first record Leave Ruin.
Two more records quickly followed, and Strand of Oaks went on tour supporting acts like Tallest Man on Earth and Joe Pug. After a couple of years of touring, Showalter returned home and began to write, producing about 30 demos in three weeks. This was the basis of his next record Heal which was completed after another devastating personal tragedy. Showalter and his wife were involved in a head-on collision with two semi-trucks, leaving Showalter with a concussion and many broken ribs.
Showalter says that he had so much to say on 2014’s Heal that it took him two more records to get it out. It was not until last year’s In Heaven that he could focus on more recent experiences but by this time he had more difficult life experiences to process, including the loss of his mother-in-law to cancer. This time he says that he wanted to handle the tragedy more like a New Orleans funeral – accept that a great loss has occurred but move on through a celebration.
Showalter’s latest new adventure is a recurring role on a TV show. He is in the cast for the fourth season of the FX show Mayans M.C. as a member of the biker gang Sons of Anarchy, appropriately named Hoosier.
