Great Lost Bands: Timberline

I’ve been transferring my favorite vinyl to MP3s and ended up revisiting a terrific country-rock (the best description we had pre-Americana) LP called “The Great Timber Rush” by a young band called Timberline. This was an energetic and highly melodic collection of songs in the spirit of Poco’s “Good Feelin’ to Know.”
They even had one of those great greet-the-audience songs in “Timberline,” a country counterpart to Cheap Trick’s “Hello There” from the same year.
I had the chance to see them perform at the University of Illinois in 1977 and was confident they had a bright future ahead.
But it wasn’t to be. Timberline never gained a commercial foothold and broke up after just one LP.
So what happened to this great lost band? According to a tribute website (and we all should have one of those), lead singer Jim Salestrom went on to a fine career in Dolly Parton’s band and was a member of the Wild Jimbos, along with the Dirt Band’s Jimmy Ibbotson.
I found that reassuring. Timberline deserved better, but it’s nice to know that at least one member is still out there making music.
Salestrom’s website offers a CD copy of “The Great Timber Rush.” Thirty-four years on, it’s still a good listen.

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