TIM AMBLER
Tim was once a lawyer. Wigs and gowns though were really not his thing and evenings and weekends were often spent around the pubs and clubs of London, Manchester and Dublin playing to what can best be described as “diverse” audiences.
Even at school it was evident that Tim had a gift for a melody. He served as an apprentice with a variety of bands, first as a drummer and backing singer before moving on to guitar, piano, harmonica and lead vocals, which is when he started to write songs.
At Hull University, doing the “sensible” thing and graduating in Law, Tim’s taste in music became honed, as did the kind of bands he played in. Always the lyricist in those days he often put the “meaning” of a song on a par with the melody, and at this point his talent emerged. He then moved to the Inns of Court School of Law in London, to qualify as a barrister.
Music however, was always his first love and as pen and paper met, his writing style consolidated itself into a blend of influences: Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Cat Stevens, the Gibb Brothers, and Jim Croce can all be detected in his work.
Since those early days Tim Ambler’s music has taken him from busking on the streets of France to supporting Mike Oldfield in front of 5000 people at the Point theatre in Dublin with just his voice and guitar. He has worked with and co-written with No. 1 hit songwriters such as Tony Hiller, J. Vincent Edwards, Russ Ballard, Rob Davis, Barry Mason and many more.
Tim’s travels have taken him to South Africa, Australia, America, The Caribbean, The Middle East, Japan, China, Hong Kong, Macau, Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore plus most of the countries in Continental Europe where he always earned his way with his guitar by playing and singing. Songs such as The Corner and Made of Wood evoke images of the far-flung corners of the world he has used as inspiration.
Tim’s long residence in Ireland brought him popularity on the Irish live music circuit and he is often in demand in Germany, France, Scandinavia and the USA for series of performances.
At the beginning of 2000 Tim’s management company decided to finance an album of his own compositions under a distribution contract with SONY MUSIC, IRELAND featuring Billy Farrell at the production console and Anto Drennan on guitars, both of whom would later achieve production credits with The Corrs and many others, and so his career as a recording artist got under way. The self-titled debut contained a brand new version of Tim’s award winning song The Corner which took first prize in the Glinsk Song Festival in County Galway. The Corner has since been included on a BBC compilation alongside such artists as Michael Jackson, Celine Dion, and Luther Vandross.
“Falling From A Satellite” made it onto another compilation in the company of such luminaries as The Beach Boys, Art Garfunkel and Jewel.
“The Corner” and the ballad “You’ll Always Be The One” have both received extensive exposure with wide airplay on both national radio and television. The first album “Tim Ambler” was named album of the week by 2FM’s legendary DJ Larry Gogan.
With two albums now in the Irish shops (“Tim Ambler”, 2000 and “Fall From Grace”, 2003), in the summer of 2003 Tim decided to follow his long held passion for France, it’s music and it’s culture, and is now basing himself in southern France. Following his collaboration with the French wordsmith and actress Agnès Martin, Tim’s first French language album “Les Rêves de Domino” is now available. See the News and Reviews page for further details.