TIM MAY - Tim May is the kind of guy everyone likes. He's humorous, self-effacing, humble, and fun to be around. He's also an accomplished guitar player and songwriter and a founding member of the hot, young band Crucial Smith. May's talent and easy-going attitude serve him well. At the first Steve Kaufman Flatpicking Camp, May was brought along to accompany flatpick virtuoso Pat Flynn during a workshop and for a portion of his evening concert. At subsequent camps, Flynn (who produced the first Crucial Smith CD) brought the entire band to open and join him during his concert. At Crucial Smith's New England debut at the '98 Joe Val Memorial Bluegrass Festival, May (along with the rest of the band) joined in a jam session with weekend pickers. At the '98 edition of Winterhawk--the Northeast's premier bluegrass festival, May and his band got on stage as unknowns, only to have a line of people at their table waiting to buy their CD and T-shirts when they finished their set. It seems whenever May and his cohorts in Crucial Smith hit the stage, they win new converts to their brand of tight, polished, and tastefully executed hot picking and singing.

May was born in Texas and raised in Steens, MS, to a musical family. "Daddy played a little guitar and fiddle, my brother played banjo, guitar, and mandolin and my mother sang." By the time he was 11, May had fallen under the spell of Earl Scruggs and was becoming fairly accomplished as a banjo player. "We had the May Family Bluegrass Band when I was in high school," May explains. While it was often tough to find bluegrass in the Steens area, making music with his family provided great training. "It was always nice to have somebody to play with. A lot of people don't have that," May adds, counting the blessings of his musical family bond.

As May approached his teen years, he began to play guitar. "I still played banjo," May says, but the guitar gradually took more and more of his interest. "I heard people like Dan Crary, Tony Rice and had to learn how to do that," May explains. Another significant influence on May's budding musical development was the tight ensemble sound of groups like the Seldom Scene and J.D. Crowe and the New South. "Even though I was into the hot pickers, I've always been into the band, the total package," he says.

While learning, May studied records--especially Dan Crary's Bluegrass Guitar album. "That was probably the biggest solo influence--I tried to learn everything on it . . . 'try' is the operative word" he offers wryly. "I could have picked up a lot faster if I had lessons or if I had the (Steve) Kaufman books," he goes on. "I think it's great what people like Steve are doing. I learned a lot of things wrong. I put my finger down to anchor (my hand). I had no idea if that was right or wrong, I just knew you did that with the banjo. It was a long process for me to sort it all out," he concludes. As for his approach to improvisation, May says he started "to get a file, a library of ideas by learning other people's breaks." With the band, May finds himself learning more about musical theory so that he can communicate his ideas to the others more quickly. "You need to know what you're doing for communication purposes," he concludes.

By the time he arrived at David Lipscomb University, May had already performed at the prestigious Kentucky Fried Chicken Bluegrass Festival. As a student at Lipscomb, May became the guitar player in one of the school's recruitment bands playing covers of country, pop and top forty tunes at functions trying to encourage prospective students to enroll at the school. One of his fellow musical recruiters was an electric guitarist, Kyle Wood.

Wood and May became fast friends. While they shared a passion for music, they approached it from different angles. May was acoustic; Wood, electric. "Kyle was into what he was doing, and I was into what I was doing," May reflects. "We always felt it was a shame we couldn't get together and play the same music." That arrangement soon changed. "One day he (Wood) said he was going to get a mandolin," May explains. "I didn't know if he was serious or not. He came back after Christmas break having learned a bunch of songs. Next thing we just jammed forever--and still are."

With May on guitar and Wood on mandolin, the pair played around school and were joined on occasion by May's brother. Shortly thereafter, another Lipscomb student, Dave Holladay (bass), and a high school friend of Wood's, Chris Joslin (banjo and dobro), joined forces with the pair and christened themselves Sam Hill. "We found there was another band with that name" says May. Since he and his band mates took a year off, they gave up the rights to Sam Hill. The name Crucial Smith brings a few stories. With a typical smile across his face, May tells the story "Bill Monroe's middle name is Smith. Anyone who is into bluegrass knows Bill is crucial to the sound of it. It's crucial smith. It's Bill Monroe." May winks, adding "That's the story I'm going with and you'll have to decide if it's true."

It was another connection from the band's time at Lipscomb that brought Crucial Smith to the attention of former New Grass Revival guitarist and session player extraordinare Pat Flynn. After the demise of New Grass, Flynn enrolled at Lipscomb to pursue his education. "Pat's brother-in-law saw us play and told us we had to get with Pat Flynn. Determined to make the connection, Wood got hold of Flynn's schedule, cornered him after a class and gave him a tape. Flynn didn't promise anything more than a listen to the tape. A few days later he called; they got together and soon Flynn was producing the young band and writing with May ("Father Time").

The influence of Flynn and the sound of New Grass is profound. Crucial Smith features tight band arrangements, hot picking, and strong vocals woven into a contemporary sound. "We never tried to copy New Grass," May explains, "I've always thought we copied people like the Seldom Scene and Crowe--because that's what I grew up with. We certainly are influenced by the progressive pickers, and New Grass too," May continues. "Pat's producing us; helping us with arrangements has influenced us, too. It's certainly a compliment when people compare us."

May is quick to share his enthusiasm for Flynn. "His depth is really amazing. He can do many things." May adds that Flynn's influence on his guitar playing is "by osmosis" because they play together so frequently.

Listening to Crucial Smith--or better yet, seeing them live--one can see and hear the benefits of playing with a close-knit group of friends. All the members seem to shift gears as if connecting telepathically. In fact, one of their current show-stoppers, "Game Of Chase" from their debut record, is a good case study. The song was originally written by May for Wood's clear high vocal. "I wrote it in the key of E, because that's Kyle's range." E is also a key the band tends to enjoy jamming in. During one performance the band was waiting for Holladay to retune his bass from a drop D tuning in the previous song, May ripped into what became an extended solo jam. Once Holladay was tuned, the band fell into a perfect groove behind May, with Wood stepping in for his vocal. The extended intro worked so well, that it is now a regular part of the band's set. "At this point," May says, "we have an idea of what the sound is, what a guy might do, how he might approach a particular song or part." As a writer, May says, "you might have a line or riff in mind, but it really comes down to the guys getting together and everyone adding what they can. You have the structure and let the guys go."

When not playing with Crucial Smith, May works on the restoration of antique furniture, a trade he learned from his father. In fact, May and his father were involved in the restoration of the Hermitage and a number of other Civil War-era houses. May also builds instruments--he and Joslin collaborated on Chris' banjo--including a number of guitars, mandolins, dobros and even a viola.

In addition to Crucial Smith's debut (Micah Records 1997), May's explosive guitar can be heard on the Jim Buchanan System The System At Work--Volume 1, AMI 9701 and on Tom Saffell's Another Lifetime AMI 9801 (the latter also features Wood). The Buchanan record showcases May's more traditional material, while the Saffell release leans to a more contemporary, jazz influenced harmonic approach due to Saffell's instrument of choice, an eight string banjo--seven strings with an eighth drone string (similar to a traditional fifth string). At present, Crucial Smith is in the studio with hopes of having a release ready for this coming summer season.

Muriel Anderson's All Star Guitar Night benefits the Music For Life Alliance

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