Musician Tim Cheesebrow serenades the CSU

Serendipity Music Series brings local singer and songwriter to campus

Mansoor Ahmad
Staff Photographer

Tim Cheesebrow serenaded the lively crowd of the house of serendipity, the Centennial Student Union, Wednesday, Feb. 13 on the campus of Minnesota State University, Mankato.

Cheesebrow, a singer-songwriter based in St. Paul, sings mainly to remind people to have a positive outlook on life. When he was young, he had a friend whose aunt used to perform locally. Cheesebrow attended her shows and soon found out it was an environment he felt comfortable in. Since then, Cheesebrow has released five studio albums, with another one coming out in March.

While performing, Cheesebrow sang an unreleased song from his upcoming album, exploring his emotional side. Cheesebrow sang about how “no one said it will be easy”, deliberating about couples struggling in relationships. It fit in rather seamlessly, given it was right before Valentine’s Day. And if you haven’t guessed it by now, Cheesebrow definitely doesn’t shy away from sharing love with people around him.

To describe Cheesebrow’s music as just “country and rock” would be rather unfair. Cheesebrow sings with a passion which is quite relaxing, enlisting the help of his acoustic guitars to add a nice layer of country sounds. Essentially, they are songs you’d listen to while driving through the countryside on a sunny summer afternoon.

Although love and country go together, the kinds of love Cheesebrow sings about are unparalleled; from talking about loving one another, to singing about his wife as a mother, Cheesebrow‘s take-away message from his performances is that there is hope for everybody in this world – that “you’ll never walk alone.”

When asked about what advice he would give to aspiring artists, Cheesebrow said, “Find a place where your music fits.” Once that’s taken care of, he advises to be “extra polite” when communicating with venue owners and any potential clients. To sum up, building a reputation is key.

Cheesebrow also shares his love for songwriting with kids. He is the founder of the “Discover Music Program” which is a platform to help the younger members of the community to discover expression and spiritual healing through songwriting. The project started eight years ago when Cheesebrow found out that a very small percentage of students in public schools are involved in music-related classes and projects.

The Serendipity Music Series highlights and brings multi-talented artists to the campus, and Cheesebrow definitely left his mark with powerful, acoustic love-melodies. As he said, “Sometimes you’ve got to make 10 bad songs, to get one good song.” And that’s not just true for music, but everything else in life as well.

Header photo by Mansoor Ahmad | MSU Reporter.