Tim the Keyboard Man

Tim the Keybord Man

Meet Tim the Keyboard Man.  San Francisco Bay Area residents may recognize Tim.  He’s a street musician here in The City.  Tim can usually be found playing old saloon style toons during business hours on various street corners throughout the Financial District.

I’ve been seeing Tim around town for the last 12+ years now and have never once stopped to talk to him, although I’ve always been curious about his story and have even dropped dollars into his tip jar a few times while in passing.  (I have a thing for street performers.)

The music Tim plays is a nod back to the old Wild West days, making you feel like you’ve just stepped inside an old, dark and dusty saloon, complete with swinging doors, creaky floors, harsh whiskey, spittoons, gussied up madams and high stakes poker games that sometimes end in blood shed.

On this particular November afternoon, I was wandering the streets of the Financial District at lunch with fellow photographer Derek Poon (4Fifteen) when we ran into Tim playing on the corner of Montgomery and California streets.  We stopped, dropped a couple bucks into his tip jar, snapped a few shots and listened to him play for a bit.  

When Tim stopped to take a break, or rather a nip from his drink, which looked and smelt like a screwdriver -- a very strong one at that, we introduced ourselves and started talking.   

Tim said he had been playing piano as far back as he can remember, and although I didn’t catch where he was originally from, he said he had been playing on the streets of San Francisco for close to 25 years.  Thinking back, the portable keyboard was somewhat of a novelty item back in 1984.  

The one thing Tim said he likes about playing on the street most is that he doesn’t have to answer to anyone, adding that he does what he wants when he wants.  I can definitely respect that.  

Tim used to frequent the corner of 9th and Irving in the city’s Inner Sunset district, which is where I first remember seeing him, but stopped playing there a year or so back because of complaints.  According to Tim, one of the officers that walked that beat had it out for him.  Tim had some not so friendly things to say about said officer.

Tim said he hasn’t had any real problems playing in the Financial District.  Occasionally, he said, someone from a nearby office building will call the police to complain about the noise, which usually results in him having to move to another corner, but that’s about it.  However, I should note that the other day Derek said he saw Tim engaged in a pretty heated argument with someone on the corner of Montgomery and Sutter streets.  Not sure what that was all about.  
 
Although Tim has no one set corner that he plays at in particular, I tend to see him most along Montgomery Street, usually somewhere between Bush and Sacramento streets.  I have also seen him in front of the Starbucks on the corner of California and Battery streets.  So, next time you see Tim out on the street, stop for a few minutes and let his music transport you back to the old Wild West, which, if you think about it, is rather fitting considering the very street corners where he plays sit right on top of the old Barbary Coast.  Just be careful not to get yourself “Shanghaied.”