Timothy B. Cooney

(Tim Cooney)

Born September 22, 1961 into an Irish Catholic family the fourth child of an eventual clan of eight (five brother and two sisters.) My role as the “middle kid” and being born on the fall equinox set me off on a life long search for balance and I often walked the path less traveled in order to find it.

“Finding truth in art and music.”

My earliest years were spent growing up summering at Myles Standish State Forest in Plymouth Massachusetts and everyday was spent baptized in nature. At the same time I was listening to the soundtrack of social revolution being played out on AM Rock and Roll radio influencing me in profound ways!

In 1969 I sat with my siblings crouched in front of a black and white television witnessing the first “Earth-Rise”, I remember the assassination of RFK and MLK just years before and the way it affected our Massachusetts Family. I also remember seeing my friend’s brothers and fathers go off to the Vietnam war aboard war ships stationed in Newport R. I. and how that affected them and our whole neighborhood. Most of all I remember the passing of my Grandfather in early 1970 who had a profound influence on me as an artist and showed me what it meant to be a renaissance man.

In front of the TV Christmas 1968

By 1972 I was completely hooked on the music of the time and the deep lyrics and truthful expressions of the artist that seemed to be emerging from everywhere, questioning everything and everyone, much like it is now except without the music and artist… Lol. The British Invasion, The Woodstock Generation, The Beatles, The Who, Dylan, The Stones, CSN&Y, The Everly Brothers, Hendrix, James Taylor, Cat Stevens, Chicago, The Monkees, Blood, Sweat and Tears, Black Sabbath, Sly and The Family Stone, Led- Zeppelin, The Jackson Five, George Benson, Jeff Beck, Clapton and The Carpenters. I listened to it all and in 1971 when I was ten years old a friend’s dad who was a flamingo guitar instructor gave me my first guitar and a few lessons as a Christmas present for being his paper boy, I have been playing and singing ever since.

Like many of the kid’s of that time I ventured out past the comfort of my middle class upbringing at age 18 and never looked back. Spending a year at community college I soon became restless after the assassination of John Lennon in November of 1980 (another blow to my altruistic view of the world). I suddenly found myself building sailboats and sailing off-shore out of Newport R.I before the time of satelite-navigation. I think the idea of leaving it all behind appealed to me, so I sold everything I owned and within the year I was sailing south on a sailboat I built with a friend. I have enjoyed forty seasons of coastal sailing since that time taking thousands of pictures of the New England coastline and the boats that work and sail there. I also criss-crossed the country by rail and Airstream a half dozen times between 1982 and 1986, always with my camera and my guitar at hand taking in all the beauty and nature the country had to offer writing songs and taking pictures.

In 1986 I returned back to Chatham on Cape Cod to get a start in the computer business before there even was a computer business or even computers, Lol. They were mainly just fancy expensive typewriters at the time. In Late 1986 through 1997 at the genesis of the computer industry and the introduction of the internet I began selling IBM and Apple computers and services to adventurous businesses and entrepreneurs and in 1992 as a student I helped create the curriculum for the first graduating class in the “Business Information Systems major” at UMASS Dartmouth and I earned my B.S. in “Business Information Systems” in 1995.

In 1997 I became a licensed stock broker earning my series 6, 63, 65, and 7 and I spent 22 years as a Financial Advisor receiving my CLU, ChFC designations in 2007, for 22 years I represented the largest and most trusted names in the financial services industry including John Hancock, Prudential, MassMutual, Allstate, VOYA, TransAmerica, AXA, Fidelity and many others. I managed over 400 clients and fifty million dollars in assets and another 300 million in life insurance and LTC trusts helping hundreds of families and businesses build security for their businesses, their families and future generations. In 2019 I was forced into retirement after being diagnosed with several different health conditions mostly related to stress.

“Time to sail on”

In 2015 I found a new type of canvas and I started painting. Along with my photography and music I have made this my main pastime. I also build my own frames with the skills I learned as a boat craftsmen in the early 80’s.

Between 2005 and 2017 I was the lead singer and songwriter for a band I formed called “Turtleback” with long time friend Max Wick on Bass and new friend Jeff Herbst on lead guitar, adding David Barrett on drums in 2014. I played acoustic and electric rhythm guitar, harmonica and lead vocal. I have recorded over 200 covers with both my bands and I have written and recorded another album of songs called “Promise Land” with my new band The SunTurtles. I have hundreds of stories and over 50 thousand photographs from five decades of carrying my camera around. I guess a lot of my songs are written from the “soul up” and they reflect the balance between disappointments and happiness.

I have three grown children and a five year old grandson and I am blessed to have 23 nieces and nephews. Other than my role as a dad and grand-dad, being an uncle and watching all those kid’s grow up has been the best experience of my life, and I have the pictures to prove it…Lol

This project is long overdue and I think that today being my 60th birthday is a good time to publish this site and to finally share some of my work with the world. A work in progress and like many in this new age I don’t know what’s coming next but I hope I can bring you along for the ride wherever it is!

Moving to Northern California in 2022 a new journey has just begun and I am very happy to bring you all along with me this time around!

Thanks for taking the time to view my work and hear my songs.

Sail on my friends, sail on!

God Bless,

Tim