Tim Kingsbury (born 1977) is a Canadian musician and member of the indie rock band Arcade Fire. He plays bass guitar, guitar, and occasionally keyboards.

Early life

Kingsbury spent his early years living in and around Guelph, Ontario. He comes from a musical family; his mother Birdie was a pianist and a music director and Parkwood Gardens Community church in Guelph, and Kingsbury sang in the church choir. His brother Brett is a professional classical pianist. After piano lessons as a child, Kingsbury stopped playing music until a friend of his mother gave him a guitar when he was fourteen. He began to teach himself to play and write music. where he began playing in bands when he was sixteen. Christian rock was an early influence for Kingsbury,

Kingsbury moved to Montreal in 2001. The New International Standards included Richard Reed Parry, Annesley Black and Mike Feuerstack. The band was active for about two years. It was Parry that brought Kingsbury into Arcade Fire. Although Kingsbury primarily plays bass in Arcade Fire, he also plays guitar and sings.

Guelph continues to be a contact for Kingsbury and the fellow members of Arcade Fire. Arcade Fire performed at Guelph's Hillside Festival in 2005, a performance Sam Baijal, artistic director of Hillside, credits with giving the Festival a huge boost in popularity. He has also been involved with the bands Clark and The New International Standards in addition to recording as a solo artist.

Sam Patch

In August 2015 he launched a side project under the name "Sam Patch" along with fellow Arcade Fire member Jeremy Gara and Toronto artist Basia Bulat. He played his first show as Sam Patch at Montreal's Bar Le Ritz. Kingsbury began writing music while on tour with Arcade Fire and recorded the album Yeah You, and I post-tour, with Gara, Bulat. John McEntire of the bands Sea and Cake, and Tortoise and fellow Tortoise member Doug McCombs also appear. Kingsbury named the project after an early 19th-century daredevil by the same name. Sam Patch, also known as the Jersey Jumper, would jump from bridges, buildings and other heights, including the Niagara River at the base of the Falls. Patch met his death in 1829 attempting a stunt at Rochester's High Falls.

References

  • Profile of Tim Kingsbury from an article by Elizabeth Goodman in Rolling Stone