Some people probably remember him from Season 9 of American Idol, when he finished in 7th place. He was constantly bombarded by Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson with harsh critiques (until his last few weeks on the show), but won over the general public with his positive attitude, trademark smile, and great work ethic - plus some beautiful acoustic guitar skills. What people might not realize, however, is everything that he has accomplished since then.
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After becoming one of the most beloved members on the American Idolsummer tour, he went on to play shows across the country and was the first American Idol contestant of his season to release new music on his first EP album, Heart of Me. The album was initially received well, but the ambient acoustics, laid back tempo, and weather channel-esque instrumentals didn’t quite make the splash necessary in order for the Texas-based musician to push forward for a record deal – despite my liking of it.
So what has Urban done since then to help accomplish that? He publishes YouTube videos of himself performing mostly covers of songs, and one of those covers, “Future Taylor Swift Song for Harry Styles (Tim Urban Original),” temporarily put him back in the spotlight with over 440,000 views. Two years after exiting Idol, he released a song on his birthday titled “Someday.” It had an upbeat, positive, commercial sound that mirrors his musical career (and personality) at that point in time and even now. A lyric from the chorus, “Someday we’ll be looking back in rewind/laughin’ ‘bout old times . . . watchin’ the stars light/don’t make me wait for Someday,” illuminates that pursuit of a successful musical career.
So he must only want to be famous for the glory, right? That couldn’t be further from the truth. During his time on American Idol, the other contestants always referred to Urban as the guy who wanted to make someone’s day better. In a clip before his performance of the famous Beatles song, “All My Loving,” he stated: “I want to brighten people’s day. I want to make them smile.” He is also widely loved by his fans for being honest, goofy, and sharing his positive outlook on life. In videos of his live performances on YouTube, he is usually interactive with the fans and creates a fun atmosphere. He’ll joke about how he can’t remember all the words or the chords on his guitar for the song he is about to play.
He and three friends actually tried to create the youth arm of the relief organization called Mannarelief that sends nutritional supplements to orphanages all over the world. The youth arm didn’t last after one trip to South Africa (where I believe he wrote a song dedicated to the kids there called “Lullaby”), but Urban recites how the experience was “pretty life changing.” He is currently building a house with his wife (and his daughters, Bella and Nora). How many professional musicians build their own house? Isn’t that kind of awesome? I asked him what advice he could give to someone that might want to build their own house someday, and he replied: “Study everything you can to make sure you know what you’re doing.”
Have you heard of the cliché about a few bumps in the road on the journey to success? Well, Urban’s music career since then has encountered some adversity. He mentioned in interviews while revisiting the finale of American Idol Season 11 that he was planning on releasing his first full-length album, but something happened and it fell through. One of the songs he was banking on having on that album was titled “Sooner or Later” – which is my personal favorite of his. He has also expressed his disdain for the entertainment industry and their standards – which meant that he was upset about how it’s all about looks and trends instead of actual musicianship, which is understandable.
Having said that, he did work with multi-award winning songwriter and composer Gail Vareilles (Dora the Explorer) and Glee Music Producer Tommy Faragher for Sandshifter Music. Urban recorded 15 songs; four of them he decided to drop on iTunes onto the album, The New York Sessions; another one, “Beautiful Dream,” was featured in the movie, Movie 43 (which made him vexed). He has also released a few his own original songs, “Perfectly You” and “The Real You” onto iTunes with a few more coming soon. Ever since the Boston bombing, he has played his song “Tears for Hallelujah” around the country, and the newest track he’ll hopefully release can be found on his ReverbNation channel, titled “Stars Collide.”
Oh yeah, he’s an actor, too. He was set to star as the lead in the romantic indie-film, To Be Happy, but after delays in production, he left the project. Fortunately, he recently had a supporting role in another indie-film, Amerigeddon, directed by the son of Chuck Norris, Mike Norris. He also said in a YouTube video that he auditioned for Peter Parker in The Amazing Spider-Man, but didn’t get the role. Although he was highly sought after to join the hit-show Glee, he reportedly decided against it. Not only has he been acting, he also directed and edited Overhaul for a Hero: The Garcia Project, in which the house of a police officer was remodeled after he was paralyzed in an accident.
Tim Urban’s music career might not be mainstream, but I guarantee he wouldn’t change a thing. He might be remembered by most for his time singing and playing acoustic guitar on American Idol, but he has accomplished so much good for this world ever since. He has done work for charity and helping those in need (inspired by his Christian faith) – not to forget juggling all these activities plus taking care of his family. There’s probably so much more he has accomplished that I don’t even know about, and that’s the best part. While I’m a big fan of his and hope he continues recording and playing music, the impact he has had not only through music, but with everything else up to this point has been a pleasure to see or read about through television, social media, and YouTube. The world needs more people like Tim Urban.
