Tim Eriksen is a singer, songwriter, ethnomusicologist and multi-instrumentalist living in Western Massachusetts. His Wesleyan University PhD dissertation in ethnomusicology centers the meaning and mushrooming of an antiquarian musical practice called the “old folks’ concert in antebellum New England. Eriksen’s scholarship on early American song has been published in Ethnomusicology, The Massachusetts Review and in the forthcoming issue of The Journal of the Viola da Gamba Society of America, where he traces connections between a revival of New England viol music and the rustic dystopianism of H. P. Lovecraft.
A widely recognized figure in the resurgence of “shapenote” singing over the past forty years, Eriksen’s pieces appear in collections including The Sacred Harp, and his secular songs have been covered by Joan Baez, Alison Krauss and Bonny “Prince” Billy. In May, 2026 he collaborated with Rhiannon Giddens in a sold-out Carnegie Hall performance celebrating “The Secret Soundtrack of America.” His current projects include collaborations with pianist Omar Sosa, hardcore punk band Stands For Nothing and the folk minimalist duo album “Absence and her sister”with percussionist Peter Irvine, co-founder with Eriksen of the underground “folk/noise” band Cordelia’s Dad (“the only band to have played with both Doc Watson and Nirvana”). Given the Jean Ritchie Musical Heritage Award by Ritchie herself, Eriksen’s work in folksong can be heard in films including the Oscar-winning Cold Mountain and indie horror phenomenon The Outwaters.
