Biography

Timothy Mason has been actively promoting poetry and folk music in greater Boston since the mid 1980's. A member of the first National Poetry Slam Team from Boston in 1991 and the first Worcester Team in 1993, he honed his performance style around the campfires of the fabled Kerrville Folk Festival giving the songwriters a run for their money.

An extensive background in human services, three years volunteering for a telephone crisis intervention hotline, training as a rape crisis counselor, four years working with developmentally disabled adults, a stint with court-involved youth, and eight years volunteering in a battered women's shelter have given him a unique empathy with the quiet battles of daily survival.

Born in the Midwest and raised in North America, his family eventually settled in Salt Lake City, Utah, which he still calls home, although he has been a New Englander for well over two decades. On the east side of the Big River, he hails from Worcester, Massachusetts, and "The People's Republic of Cambridge". Currently he resides in Fort Point, South Boston. He supports himself by booking folk music into Club Passim, the legendary Harvard Square coffeehouse, and recently at Capo's in Lowell MA.

Prior to programming Club Passim, he brought The Old Vienna Kaffeehaus in Westboro, Massachusetts, to national prominence.

"His insight is genuinely hip because it is accessible.
And sensible. And kind."

As an undergraduate at The University of Utah he chaired the student committee responsible for bringing The Rocky Horror Picture Show to the big screen behind "the Zion curtain quot;. Mason later attended graduate school at Antioch New England in Keene, New Hampshire, earning a Master's degree in Organization and Management. He was voted "Most Standardly Deviated" and "Most Ambiguous". He thought it best to avoid the corporate world. Thus far he has achieved this goal.

His poetry is drawn from his diverse experiences and is written to be performed aloud. He has collaborated with musicians on a number of occasions, including recording the cassette single Saddam's Insane with prize-winning guitarist Geoff Bartley. Saddam's Insane aired on National Public Radio's HEAT show at the onset of the Gulf War.

"You reminded me of the Russian poet Yvegeny Yevtushenko in his earliest and best days."

The late '90's and early '00's have seen Mason's poetry reach a new maturity. His first book Gently, Like Water, Cracking Stone was released in April 1997. The 50-page perfect bound volume includes a CD of live performance. Introduced by social activist Barry Crimmins, this volume has opened many doors and its innovative presentation has caught the attention of many artists and audiences alike. Recent festival and club appearances have enabled Mason to reach a wider audience and solidified his place among contemporary New England artists. With his release of the full length CD "Bloodlines" which features music by award winning musican Geoff Bartley and follow up collaboration "Bones and Breath" where they continue to break new and dynamic ground using a format that combines song and poem into a seamless new creation. The fully produced album plays with a complete musical background.

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