Guitar great Andy Timmons sat down with me post-soundcheck, an hour before a show on his European tour, for a wide-ranging conversation about how he actually makes music. We cover the mindset that gets him through a night when a string breaks in the first song, why he calls the work itself "the gift," and how his playing was shaped by three older brothers, two formative years in Miami, and a late-arriving obsession with Django Reinhardt and Chopin. He explains the "auralect" — his term for the library of sounds that guides a player's instinct — what the fast passages in his music are really for, and how a daily hour with coffee and a guitar became central to his mental health. Timestamps below.
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:25 Backstage before the gig: the pre-show mindset
02:00 "Every gig is the most important gig"
02:48 Music as a safe place: growing up shy
03:54 Parents separating and three older brothers
04:57 A head start in music history
06:37 First gig at 13, going pro at 16
07:14 Finding a teacher and discovering jazz
07:45 Studying classical guitar in college
09:12 The University of Miami years (1983–85)
10:17 Django Reinhardt: "When you're ready, I am here"
11:00 Gypsy jazz and the players he loves
12:04 Chopin and Alice Herz-Sommer
14:03 The right note at the right time
16:05 The "auralect": learning music by ear
18:58 The morning routine: coffee and guitar
21:08 Pat Metheny and a creative rebirth
24:00 Practice, depression and mental health
25:11 The album "Recovery"
25:39 Bossa nova, Chopin, surf: embracing everything
26:59 What the "shreddy bits" are actually for
28:55 "Simplicity is the final frontier"
29:21 Vermeer, Da Vinci and visual inspiration
31:34 His cousin, guitarist Ben Garnett
Andy Timmons: Talent Is Overrated — Here's What Actually Matters
00:25 Backstage before the gig: the pre-show mindset
02:00 "Every gig is the most important gig"
02:48 Music as a safe place: growing up shy
03:54 Parents separating and three older brothers
04:57 A head start in music history
06:37 First gig at 13, going pro at 16
07:14 Finding a teacher and discovering jazz
07:45 Studying classical guitar in college
09:12 The University of Miami years (1983–85)
10:17 Django Reinhardt: "When you're ready, I am here"
11:00 Gypsy jazz and the players he loves
12:04 Chopin and Alice Herz-Sommer
14:03 The right note at the right time
16:05 The "auralect": learning music by ear
18:58 The morning routine: coffee and guitar
21:08 Pat Metheny and a creative rebirth
24:00 Practice, depression and mental health
25:11 The album "Recovery"
25:39 Bossa nova, Chopin, surf: embracing everything
26:59 What the "shreddy bits" are actually for
28:55 "Simplicity is the final frontier"
29:21 Vermeer, Da Vinci and visual inspiration
31:34 His cousin, guitarist Ben Garnett
Andy Timmons: Talent Is Overrated — Here's What Actually Matters