When you think of the music scene in St. Augustine, it’s easy to get lulled into the comfortable mindset of jazz and blues along King Street or the sound of acoustic guitars wafting down St. George Street. But there’s an entirely different genre of music which is gaining a formidable foothold in St. Augustine. Call it hip hop. Call it rap. Call it whatever you want.
Tim Savage just wants you to listen.
The 41-year-old Massachusetts native was born in the small town of Newburyport, and the family lived in the small town of Win Henson until Tim was 12, when his family moved to York, Pennsylvania. His college years took him to Philadelphia, where he experienced “the big city” for the first time as an adult. He loved everything about Philadelphia – “In Philly, I got to live in and be around a city like I’d never been around before. So, when I got to Philly I kind of dove into it. It’s the “City of Brotherly Love” but it just punches you in the face.”
It was in Philadelphia where a 21-year-old Tim Savage first learned to rap. “I would go down to the open mics on South Street. I would show up and all these guys would be passing the mic. I’d be there rapping and I’d think I’m doing well and the whole room starts chanting ‘PASS THE MIC! PASS THE MIC!’ and for a second I thought that was good,” he laughs. “It’s not good!”
What draws Tim to rap? “It’s this algorithm of words in my head and I have this insatiable need to connect all these words together. When I first saw people who could do that it was like seeing math done to an equation for the first time.”
Tim’s primary form of rap is known as “freestyle.” Essentially, you hand him a microphone and he goes off the cuff, unrehearsed and spur of the moment. It’s certainly not easy and it takes work to do it well. He says he was fortunate to come up around people who took their craft very seriously, and it compelled him to want to show them that he could do it, too.
Tim moved to St. Augustine in the spring of 2016 and quickly found a circle of performers who accommodated his skills as a rapper. There’s an obvious level of pride when he looks at this musical form; largely dismissed by many in the past, it’s now being accepted as it is around town.“This is a really cool town to engage in. The town wants to welcome new people, good people. Quality over quantity.”
Tim looks at his last 41 years as an investment in his future, whatever that may be.
On any given night you can find Tim downtown at Stogie’s or on Anastasia Island at Planet Sarbez and Shanghai Nobby’s, passing the mic to others who share his passion for the art and the performance. When he’s not out rapping, he’s probably off somewhere doing what he can to change the world around him for the better or helping someone else do the same.
You can find out more about Tim and his endeavors at his website, www.timsavage.co. Photography by Steve Parr.
