Yamaha Lets Tim Rushlow Do It All

YAMAHA LETS TIM RUSHLOW DO IT ALL

—Former Little Texas Frontman Rides Yamaha Guitars to Solo Success—

BUENA PARK, CA (October 22, 2001)—Tim Rushlow has some room to maneuver. Embarking upon a solo career following a successful run with country combo Little Texas, he says he finds it exhilarating to do more writing and more experimenting—and he credits his CPX15W Compass West acoustic-electric guitar, Pacifica 604W electric guitar and other gear from Yamaha for giving him the power and flexibility to get the job done.

Country singer-songwriter Tim Rushlow and his entire band say they depend upon Yamaha for guitars and other equipment that takes a pounding on the road and sounds great every time.

"We're full-blown Yamaha," Rushlow says. "I need instruments that are going to be versatile workhorses on the road—climate to climate, gig to gig. I need to open the case and know that they're going to work. With these guitars, I can get as twangy or as rockin' as I want, and that's a real advantage with my music."

His solo album, Crazy Life, was initially a self-titled release on the Atlantic label, and the first single, "She Misses Him," spent eight weeks in the top ten. "Crazy Life" is the next single due to hit the country airwaves.

The album went into limbo when Atlantic closed shop, but Scream Recordings purchased the masters, and it will appear under its new name in late October with new artwork and a bonus track. "I had spent two years cutting this album, and I really believe in it," Rushlow asserts.

Rushlow takes the stage with his Pacifica, a double cutaway with Wilkinson Tremolo special locking tuners, to create what he describes as "a real edgy country sound" as he tours to promote his debut solo album, Crazy Life. "I've never claimed to be a traditional country artist, and I'm not," he explains. "I'm very contemporary, and I like my place."

"I love the Pacificas—they have great intonation, they stay in tune great, and I'm really shocked with how well they hold up on the road," he says. "Sometimes it's 20 degrees different from day to day, and that can whack a guitar out. But these are really stellar and consistent."

In quieter moments, he turns to the Compass West, a handcrafted acoustic-electric with a rich collection of hardwoods. "It's a great thing to be able to have a great acoustic that you can pull out of the case on the bus and write a song on it and it sounds like a great acoustic, whether it's amplified or not," he says. "It really is a finely crafted instrument."

Rushlow's bandmates are Yamaha devotees as well; Kurt Allison plays a strat-style Pacifica with a sunburst design, and Donny Harris, Rushlow's songwriting cousin, plays Yamaha acoustics. The band also relies upon Yamaha's PSR350 keyboard, EX5 synthesizer and P200 digital piano for composing, performing and recording.

The end of his Little Texas days has unleashed Rushlow as a creative explorer, and he's savoring the chance to try new sounds and write his own material. "It's really freed me up," he says. "Ultimately it's up to me how big or small I become. I can't imagine life without music, and I love writing songs. Talking to people, hearing their stories—when we listen to people, we learn, and that's part of being a good songwriter."

Some of the lessons bring sorrow: Rushlow can't forget the lunchtime performance he gave this summer in New York, in the plaza at the foot of the World Trade Center towers, almost certainly playing for many of the people who were lost. Now he's coming back to the area to take part in a November benefit concert. "It's going to be a real honor," he reflects. Other upcoming tour dates will take him to Chicago; Green Bay, WI; Allentown, PA and other venues around the country. "I've been on the road more than I've been home this whole year," Rushlow notes; he plans to stay on the road at least through the end of next year.

For more information on Yamaha guitars, write Yamaha Corporation of America, Pro Audio & Combo Division, Guitar Products, P.O. Box 6600, Buena Park, CA 90622; telephone (714) 522-9011; e-mail infostation@yamaha.com; or visit www.yamaha.com.

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