BMI singer-songwriter-musician Tim Bennett began this project as a sonic mo… Read Full Bio ↴BMI singer-songwriter-musician Tim Bennett began this project as a sonic mouthpiece in response to an arresting and rhythmical emotional life he had been living in the most vibrant and darkest corners of the planet from Brazil to Southeast Asia to New York and back home in London. Bennett’s emotive use of lyrics metaphorically encapsulates his demons and triumphs set against modern soulful rock melodies. His fans responded in full force with a ground breaking action - they personally funded this thinking-man’s rock and roll band’s first studio album Miseducated, raising over $30,000.

The enthusiastic cry of Bennett’s fans waving dollar bills to get this guy into a studio caught the attention of two uber multi-platinum music professionals: Steve Hardy, Master Mixing Engineer, whose Grammy Award winning work includes such artists as Alicia Keys, U2, Jay-Z, Prince, etc and secondly, Master Mixer Ted Jensen, who has worked with everyone from The Police[/artist[, to Madonna, Green Day, Dave Matthews Band[/artist[, etc and won a Grammy for his work on Norah Jones’ Album of the Year “Come Away with Me”. Add Producer Jeff Thall into the mix, this dream team got hooked on Civilized Tears' poetic addictive sound, honest lyrics and began recording Bennett’s “rock collage of everything I've ever loved and probably some things I didn't” in New York City.

The first single off the album, Black Rain is an infectious sing-at the-top-of-your lungs-with-the-car-windows-rolled-down anthem. “I was a banquet server and I had been writing down the lyrics in between serving courses. It’s about desperation and not wanting to lose my dream. I didn't want to be infected by the inertia that a job like that can fill you with.”

Album highlights include the deeply autobiographical Miseducated to the cathartic Breathe in the Ash to the fearless Blue Sunrise. Bennett’s lyrical alchemy revolves around his ability to “turn the chaos of pain into something beautiful.”

Before recording Miseducated Tim had recorded two solo albums on his own record label, Autobiography of a Nobody and Naked. In between, he did every job conceivable in order to survive and chased a life in that fed his passion for musical inspiration. He has painted houses, acted in award winning commercials, canvassed for political organizations; been a courier, photographed for Vogue, Bazaar, Armani and GQ; worked as a translator, a cook and dancer. But he has never sold his soul. Tim has had lunch with Mussolini's grand daughter, he’s performed live in Kate Moss’ living room, he’s been abducted by an Italian Countess, lunched with Kylie Minogue, and survived two major earthquakes! Tim was forced to drink a pint of Cobra's blood in China, he was arrested for spying, protected by the Mafia, and dated Miss Italy; he was kissed by an Orang Utan in the jungles of Borneo, suffered temporary blindness, and has camped in the rain forests of Central America. Tim was the first white man to meet the Sultan of Brunei's witch doctor, been scolded by the Queen Mother, and has climbed the highest mountain in Southeast Asia. His music reflects a life lived in comfortable nooks and on the emotional fringe.

When asked what was one of his most memorable music moments is besides playing in his favourite spot Water Rats in London, Bennett responded, “Singing in the New York Subway. There was a very old Chinese man who kept getting up and putting a dollar in my case until he'd given me nine bucks. When I said thank you - he said that I sang from the heart with such passion that people needed to hear what I was saying and he was giving me the money so I could make a CD.” Tim seems to make a lot of people feel that way about him.