Tim Grimm - Holding Up The World (Corazong) Tim Grimm describes himself as a singer-songwriter, actor and hay-farmer. Seeing as he lives on an 80 acre farm, the latter probably takes up a considerable amount of his time, though it hasn’t stopped him appearing in three major movies this year and recording this excellent record. At his core, Grimm is an exceptional storyteller, and Holding Up The World is heavy on tales of fortitude and suffering, wrong-doing and redemption. “The Girl” wraps up dusty rural noir with biblical shenanigans - think Steve Earle soundtracking Carnivale. “Rebecca Versailles” tells the story of black mother travelling north for a new life - sung in the first person Grimm again employs religion and its imagery to hammer home emotional truths. “Or Bust” is decidedly more jaunty, though it retains a Steinbeck / Grapes Of Wrath narrative. www.timgrimm.com Rob F. Next