Welcome to the channel! I'm Tim Aven and have been living in Nashville playing guitar for almost 9 years. I play in a band called LANCO along with all over town. I'm here to join this great RU-vid guitar community that I have been a view of for so long. I love the content here and hope some people find something useful from my perspective! I will be posting everything from gear reviews, teaching, and interviews with other musicians I have met along the way. So glad you're here, keep playing! - Love Tim
Hey Tim. Great video. I have a 50 plus year old Washburn my wife bought me when I returned from overseas when I was in the army. I also have a Martin and a Taylor. That Martin you are playing is a good one. My younger brother has one and since he is an accomplished Luthier that means a lot. In past videos I thought your style was kind of like Mark Knopfler and now I can see the John Mayer influence. Keep up the good work! Burlington Bill busking on the road and here on you tube.
As a woodworker and a guitar player I find the guitar hanger very interesting. Keep up the good work. Enjoy the music all! Burlington Bill busking on the road and here on Burlington Bill on you tube.
I don't own a phone, so I bought a small Cannon movie camera for my channel. I don't edit and most my stuff is one take. The antithesis of professional. Fun video Tim. Burlington Bill busking on the road and on you tube.
I have to say, especially now that I’m retired from the road after the better part of 36 years of doing this kind of touring, your videos gave me a level of anxiety/PTSD of life on the road all the time. We were fortunate to have had a crew to handle all of the stage, set up and teardown, load in and load out, and we rarely if ever had to Soundcheck because we carried our own monitor and front of house gear. In fact, the only time we ever sound checked, was when we did fly dates and were using backline gear provided by the promoter of the show. The only upside to FLY dates was that you didn’t have to spend 24 hours on a bus to get to a show. Those 5 AM lobby calls to go back to the airport really sucked. We were fortunate to always have hotel rooms wherever we were playing and CASINO gigs were particularly good about that. Plus, we always had our own bus that was customized to our needs but that still doesn’t take away the stress of all the time spent on it to go somewhere. I hope you enjoy this while you’re still young like we did 30+ years ago, but trust me when I tell you, The day will come when it wears you out completely.
During covid because I could not jam at local bars I started "Burlington Bill" on you tube. Nothing fancy just some of my originals and some covers. It is fun. It also led to me writing a theme song for a very well known Sailing site. Sailing into Freedom started using my song on Episode 265 at the one minute mark. Fun stuff. Keep up the good work Tim you do it proud! Burlington Bill busking on the road and here on you tube.
Kind of fun to see an insider view of the Nashville scene. I'm just about to turn 74 and have been playing guitar since early teens. Rosie and I have been married 54 years and have travelled the country and back when I was in the army the world. We love Nashville though the last few years it has become a little too busy and expensive. I bought my Martin Custom at Gruhn's but honestly, I like my Taylor 314 CE better. We are finding as we travel that around the country a lot of the cool places like Tahoe, Austin, and Nashville are pricing themselves too high for the normal working stiff. Thanks for some fun content. Check out the song I wrote for Sailing into Freedom, episode 265, one minute mark and on Burlington Bill all here on you tube. Burlington Bill busking on the road and here on you tube.
It’s all about your following and how many people you can bring to a venue to buy their tickets/drinks. That’s why we always see mediocre bands making a fortune while extremely talented musicians are stuck in dive bars. It’s all about marketing gimmicks and revenue for the host.
hey thanks for sharing. i really enjoyed this video and found it helpful. i just moved here to Nashville 10 days ago and have been fortunate enough to land some work as i am a guitarist/producer/composer. just subscribed and am looking forward to keeping up with your journey
We live near Alpine Valley and for many years the Dead would come and play. The Deadheads would be camped everywhere. Fun times. Burlington Bill busking on the road and here on you tube.
Congrats on your success thus far Tim! As a hack guitar player I am always amazed at the ability of the averge player downtown. When I take people down there who have never been I tell them have a beer and go to the next one. Spend a day finding the bar and the players you like. It is very easy to end up sitting in one bar because the band is so good and never see that the next one is going to be as good or better. After you have seen the players downtown and are fortunate enough to meet the top tier session players it becomes pretty clear they are another level. I think Tim does a great job of talking about real life as a pro musician in a town where there is no shortage of talent. It is everywhere. The guy who installed my fence is as good a player as you will find. The guy cutting your grass may be. The amazing thing about brodway is these players typically aren't really a "band." They are players who get together for specific gigs and automatically sound as good as any band anywhere. 3 hours later you will see the guitar player with the bass player from another bar playing the next shift somewhere else. It's an amazing place.
Hey Tim, I've got an idea. Don't even know if it is possible but a few years back I wrote a song and played it for a sailing site on You-Tube called Sailing into Freedom. Peter first used it on Episode 265 at the one-minute mark and then later on a bunch of times. It's called Sailing to Freedom. Anyway, it would be so cool if you could take it and put a break into it. You can find several takes on it on Burlington Bill including one where my Grandson puts a little rap in the middle. Thanks for your time. Enjoying the channel! Burlington Bill busking on the road and here on you tube.
The situation you were in is around for most young people. At eighteen I started at a glass factory. Wisconsin had eighteen-year-old bars where you could drink beer. Unfortunately, they were in a different county, so we drove thirty miles away to get drunk and party. Everyone in the factory (it seemed) love to drink. That is when I met my wife and we loved to follow my brother's band around and drink. Then Uncle Sam stepped in and in 1970 I was in the army. By the time I left the army, I was married and had a little girl. After the army and back at the factory my drinking days were behind me. Working 12 to sixteen hours a day six or even seven days a week and taking care of a family didn't leave much time for drinking. Rosie and I are seventy-four now and still travel the country and the world. I enjoy beer now and then and life is good. I know this is a tough issue with young people and that has always been true! Enjoying your channel Tim. Burlington Bill busking on the road and on my you tube channel.
Man thank u so much for these videos and ur humble, down to earth "real dude" approach, to hear u say u have been fired plenty of times and not called back but still go back up on the horse it truly inspiring, i need to at least visit asap, i think ill reach out to u for sure when i do...cheers and rock on
btw im 34, I am a full time musician in north NJ/NYC in a jersey shore based wedding band, been doing weddings and covers at bars/clubs etc for years, as well as original music and session experience....due to my older age, again 34, am I at a disadvantage if i move down?
We live near Alpine Valley. Years ago Stevie Ray Vaughn flew towards Chicago and crashed. Wisconsin with Madison, Alpine Valley and even Summerfest has always been a great place for music. Burlington Bill busking on the road and here on you tube.
In our 54 years together Rosie and I have visited Nashville many times. Broadway is always fun! We RV so I'll throw a couple tips out there. First there is a Corps of Engineers park just outside of Nashville which is an awesome place to stay and is close to everything. Second, for parking downtown use Titon Stadium. If there isn't an event there parking is always available and free. Just walk over the bridge and you are downtown. Thanks Tim for your site. I love all the inside info. Burlington Bill
Way to stay positive! Keep on Rocking Tim. Hoping to see you around sometime. Did you go to CAAS (Chet Atkins Convention)? Some fantastic players were there. But enjoy your channel and just wanted to say hey!
Being a musician (paid) is much like many other "Star" jobs.... there is way way way more supply (of talent) than demand.... you have 11 year old girls on RU-vid shredding guitar like John Sykes.... Girls like Taylor Swift making a billion dollars with a fraction of the talent of the girl on RU-vid ... the whole thing is broken.. My suggestion? Get a real job, and use your money to buy the gear and hobby with music... I own some guitars that most working musicians would never be able to afford and I buy then with my "day job" money.. But I wish you the best.. Being a straight white male in today's world of media isn't going to be easy.
Music should be fun. Too bad it somehow got wound up with business. I'm a 70 year old hobbyist player that started when I was 10. Still look forward everyday to going to my home studio and enjoying playing.
10'000 guitar pickers in Nashville. Something like that from John Sebastion of the Lovin Spoonfuls. As a so so guitar player I love Nashville. Every joint big or small is chocked full of great musicians. Like you say, if it is your thing give it a shot! Burlington Bill busking on the road and on you tube.
Dude, I just watched this video. Loved the bus tour, walking up on stage, watching the band playing down in the crowd. I liked your swinging back and forth to Tripp on drums. I was digging your guitar solo, to bad it got cut off by Gopro. Great video, Tim 🤘🏻
I agree with the previous comment that it sounds like Santana only with more reverb and less sustain. It could use a bit more sustain. Were you using a compressor or noise gate?
Love the G&L. I absolutely love mine. I have 3 very different ones and each sounds fantastic. Love to see others using them. I think sometimes they get overlooked. Thanks for another great video! You bring uniqueness to RU-vid. Great attitude and love the honesty and your positivity. I know you will go as far as you want to go. Other people want to be around positive people like yourself. I think too many younger people expect greatness immediately, if that makes sense? If it’s not hard, it probably isn’t worth anything. Keep these great videos coming!
Excellent video, Tim! You are right on target with your advice: Be On Time, that means get to the gig with plenty of time to setup and troubleshoot any issues with your rig. Be Prepared, a gig is not only the actual performance, it’s the time to properly learn the songs. That’s not just a cheat-sheet with the chords, it’s knowing the arrangement, especially any parts that you need to execute such as intros and endings. Stay Sober, make sure you do nothing that might impair your ability to do your job. Lastly, I love your optimism! I had been performing in the NY Tri-State area for six or seven years and the frustration of not moving up the ladder was getting to me. I confided in my Dad that I was thinking of giving up and selling all of my gear. My Dad simply replied, “well, then you’ll really know.” Know what I asked, he replied, “well, then you’ll really know that you’ll never succeed.” That was the last time I ever complained and while I’m not a big name in the business, I have had moderate levels of success and 48 years later I am still performing regularly with no plans to stop. If your goal is only to be a world famous star you might want to reconsider this path, but if you have a passion for creating and performing music keep rolling!
I lived in Nashville from 2003-2005 and even back then I remember every barista, pizza delivery driver, and waitress was a musician trying to make it. It felt overwhelming for me, like I had no chance because I wasn't good enough, or outgoing enough to meet people and make connections. I think it takes a certain personality type like yours: optimism, outgoing, good with people and connecting. Hard work is a given for anything in life. But I think your personality is the most important thing and I just didn't have it.
Man it’s like butter with a spiced hot pepper hidden in there. Versatility on steroids. Maybe it’s just the hands massaging the neck. Great video Tim. Cheers!
Hey Tim…I was watching your gig video (which was amazing!) and had a question…,do you have any issues jumping between the jumbo frets of the DGT and the smaller silver sky frets? I’ve always tried to stay consistent but am starting to think it’s good to have different things around.
The music industry in Nashville will teach you to get real thick skin and become very resilient if you stick around. Anyone who gets offended easy won’t last long. Looks like you’ve made it past that part. Good luck keep picking!
