Tim Eriksen is a musician, ethnomusicologist and songwriter in genres including hardcore punk and shapenote harmony, and is best known as a pioneer of postpunk American folksong. He received a PhD in ethnomusicology from Wesleyan University in 2015 and has published related work on early New England music in connection to 19th century Abolitionism, apocalyptic religion, technology and the birth of science fiction. Since 1999 he has taught courses in songwriting, American and world music and film at Dartmouth, Amherst, Smith and Hampshire Colleges and the University of Minnesota. He is currently serving as musician in residence at Historic Deerfield.
Known for extensive contributions to films including the Oscar winning “Cold Mountain” and 2023 cult horror phenomenon “The Outwaters,” his current projects include writing songs for Alison Krauss, performing with Bonnie “Prince” Billy and creating new works with pianist Omar Sosa for a follow-up to their twice GRAMMY nominated 2009 collaboration “Across the Divide.” Eriksen has long been at the forefront of an international Sacred Harp or “shape-note” singing revival, teaching workshops across North America, Europe and Singapore. With his late wife, Bosnian ethnomusicologist Mirjana Laušević, Eriksen conducted research in the US and eastern Europe, wrote a book on Balkan music in the United States and worked closely with Target CEO Bob Ulrich to launch the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix.
Eriksen’s undergraduate work centered on the South Indian veena, but he cut his teeth as a performer as a founding member of acclaimed bands Cordelia’s Dad (post-punk and folk), Žabe i Babe (Bosnian folk and rock) and Northampton Harmony (shape-note and early American choral music). In 2008 he made his Carnegie Hall debut as a solo vocalist in composer Evan Chambers’ symphonic song cycle The Old Burying Ground. Eriksen’s live media appearances have included Prairie Home Companion, BBC Radio and the Academy Awards. His shapenote compositions are sung regularly at gatherings around the world, and his song “I Wish the Wars Were All Over” was chosen by Joan Baez to be her final recorded musical statement.
Eriksen’s magic lantern musical “Pumpkintown,” with percussionist/sound designer Peter Irvine and painter Susan Brearey, has been staged at venues including Harvard University, Dartmouth College, Théâtre Thénardier (Paris), Konstepidemin (Gothenburg) and throughout the UK and US. He is a 2024 NEFA grant recipient.
