About Strand of Oaks
Strand of Oaks is the rock project by songwriter and producer Timothy Showalter . Originally from Indiana, he currently resides in Austin, Texas. His music has been classified as rock and folk, as well as folk rock.
Showalter has released eight studio albums—Leave Ruin , Pope Killdragon , Dark Shores , Heal , Hard Love , Eraserland , In Heaven and Miracle Focus .
Showalter was born in Goshen, Indiana. In middle school, he took an interest in organized sports and wanted to become a basketball player. Showalter's athletic career ended early because he developed juvenile rheumatoid arthritis; he took an interest in music and began to pursue a career in teaching instead. After high school, Showalter moved from Indiana to Pennsylvania.
While Showalter was on tour, his wife had an affair. He moved back to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, in 2003. Months later, he came home to find his house burned down. Showalter spent his nights in hotels and on park benches with a borrowed guitar while working at an orthodox Jewish day school. During this time, he continued writing music that would later be released.
Showalter's first album Leave Ruin was released in 2009 on the Pennsylvania label La Société Expéditionnaire while touring and collaborating with Lou Rogai .
Pope Killdragon is a self-released album by Showalter. The album was produced by audio engineer, Ben Vehorn. While holding onto Strand of Oaks' folky sound, Vehorn added in synthesizers and effects pedals to create an album with a sound that was unexplored territory for Showalter. In between tours, Showalter wrote music for what would become Dark Shores. He recorded this album with John Vanderslice who produced the songs.
Pope Killdragon marked a turn in lyrical and musical style for Strand of Oaks. Its music featured strong Synth-pop influences, with Showalter explicitly citing Kate Bush and Tangerine Dream as influences on the sound of the album. Lyrically, the album marked a turn to surrealism and fantasy with fewer autobiographical elements than Leave Ruin.
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