Timothy Michael Newby (born May 29, 1974) is an American writer and educator. He is the author of three books and his work has appeared in a variety of publications including

Bluegrass Unlimited ''Bluegrass Unlimited'' is a monthly music magazine "dedicated to the furtherance of bluegrass and old-time musicians, devotees and associates."

Paste (magazine) ''Paste'' is an American monthly music and entertainment digital magazine, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, with studios in Atlanta and Manhattan, and owned by Paste Media Group. The magazine began as a website in 1998. It ran as a print publi ...

Relix ''Relix'', originally and occasionally later ''Dead Relix'', is a magazine that focuses on live and improvisational music. The magazine was launched in 1974 as a handmade newsletter devoted to connecting people who recorded Grateful Dead concer ...

AmericanaUK

Inside Lacrosse Inside Lacrosse is a lacrosse media entity and ESPN affiliate. It includes many parts including a news website, an 11 times annual magazine, online video streaming, internet forums and an ESPN television show. The company is currently headquar ...

Society for American Baseball Research The Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) is a membership organization dedicated to fostering the research and dissemination of the history and statistical record of baseball. The organization was founded in Cooperstown, New York, on Au ...

, Slide & Banjo, and Honest Tune, where he was the Features Editor. He has been called "one of Baltimore's most beloved historians." Newby lives in

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

, Maryland with his wife and daughter.

Overview

Newby has written three books, 2015's ''

Bluegrass in Baltimore ''Bluegrass in Baltimore: The Hard Drivin' Sound and its Legacy'' is a book written by Tim Newby and published by McFarland & Company in 2015. It was released in June 2015. It had its formal release August 2, 2015 at the Creative Alliance in Bal ...

'' and 2019's '' Leftover Salmon: Thirty Years of Festival!'', and his latest a biography on 19th Century baseball legend

Pete Browning Louis Rogers "Pete" Browning (June 17, 1861 – September 10, 1905), nicknamed "Gladiator" and "the Louisville Slugger", was an American professional baseball center fielder and left fielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1882 to ...

, published in Fall 2024 by the

University Press of Kentucky The University Press of Kentucky (UPK) is the scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and was organized in 1969 as successor to the University of Kentucky Press. The university had sponsored scholarly publication since 1943. In 194 ...

. He was also a contributing writer for 2004's The Phish Companion, 2023's ''One-Win Wonders'', and served as a contributing editor on the upcoming ''The 1964 Buffalo Bills: Profiles of the AFL Champions'' (2025). Following the release of ''Bluegrass in Baltimore'' Newby was featured on the Maryland Morning Radio Show on

WYPR WYPR (88.1 FM) is a public radio station serving the Baltimore, Maryland metropolitan area. Its studio is in the Charles Village neighborhood of northern Baltimore, while its transmitter is in Park Heights. The station is simulcast in the F ...

in an interview with Tom Hall that examined the unique legacy of Baltimore's rich bluegrass history. The book was hailed as "momentous" by

Baltimore (magazine) ''Baltimore'' is a monthly magazine published in Baltimore, Maryland by Rosebud Entertainment L.L.C., a company owned by Steve Geppi and led by its President Michael Teitelbaum. It is the oldest, continuously published city magazine in the con ...

. In November 2016, ''Bluegrass in Baltimore'' was awarded a Certificate of Merit from the

Association for Recorded Sound Collections Association may refer to: *Club (organization), an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal *Trade association, an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry *Voluntary associatio ...

for Excellence in Best Research in Recorded Country Music. In January 2017 it was named one of the thirty best books about bluegrass music by About Great Books. Upon the release of ''Leftover Salmon: Thirty Years of Festival!'' in February 2019,

Leftover Salmon Leftover Salmon is an American jam band from Boulder, Colorado, formed in 1989. The band's music is a blend of bluegrass, rock, country, and Cajun/ Zydeco (Polyethnic Slamgrass). Over their thirty years as a band, Salmon has released seven s ...

celebreated its release with a special acoustic tour called the Stories From the Living Room Tour, that featured, "a stripped down version of Leftover Salmon, with a full living room set with lampshades and paintings and all that," as well as a reading from Newby and stories from the band about their thirty years together. In December 2019, the book was named "Best Book of 2019" by Festy GoNuts. In 2023 Newby co-curated "Ola Belle Reed: I’ve Endured," an exhibition at the Albin O. Kuhn Library Gallery on the campus of the

University of Maryland, Baltimore County The University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) is a Public university, public research university in Catonsville, Maryland named after Baltimore County, Maryland, Baltimore County. It had a fall 2022 enrollment of 13,991 students, 61 un ...

. The exhibition explored the life and work of nationally recognized Bluegrass musician

Ola Belle Reed Ola Belle Reed (August 18, 1916 – August 16, 2002) was an American Appalachian folk singer, songwriter and banjo player. Early life Reed was born Ola Wave Campbell in the unincorporated town of Grassy Creek, Ashe County, North Carolina. Sh ...

and contextualized her achievements within a history of migration from rural

Appalachia Appalachia ( ) is a geographic region located in the Appalachian Mountains#Regions, central and southern sections of the Appalachian Mountains in the east of North America. In the north, its boundaries stretch from the western Catskill Mountai ...

north in the twentieth century. Newby has also appeared in the documentaries ''Charm City Bluegrass: A Renewed Baltimore Tradition'' (2018) and ''I've Endured: The Music and Legacy of Ola Belle Reed'' (2023). ''The Original Louisville Slugger'' received extremely positive reviews upon release, with Bevis Baseball Research declaring, "Newby has penned one of the best biographies of a 19th century ballplayer ever written. This book is a superlative effort by Newby in which he not only examines Browning’s baseball exploits on the playing field, but more importantly makes the transition from historian to biographer to provide an assessment of the man’s inner character and explore how he coped with the cultural issues of a hearing disability and an alcohol addiction...This biography should receive some consideration in 2025 to be a finalist selection for the prestigious Seymour Medal, to be awarded for the best book on baseball history or biography published in 2024." The release was celebrated with an event at the

Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory The Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory, is a museum and factory tour attraction located in Louisville, Kentucky's "Museum Row", part of the West Main District of downtown. The museum showcases the story of Louisville Slugger baseball bats in ba ...

. The book was announced as a finalist for the

Casey Award The Casey Award (stylized as CASEY) is an annual literary award that has been given to the best baseball book of the year since 1983. The award was created by Mike Shannon and W. J. Harrison, editors and co-founders of '' Spitball: The Literary B ...

in November 2024. In March 2025 it was announced as a finalist for the Foreword Indies Book of the Year.

Bibliography

As author * 2015 – ''

''. * 2019 – '' Leftover Salmon: Thirty Years of Festival!''. * 2024 - ''The Original Louisville Slugger: The Life and Times of Forgotten Baseball Legend Pete Browning''. As contributing writer * 2004 - '' The Phish Companion Vol 2''. * 2024 - ''One-Win Wonders''. As contributing editor * 2025 - ''The 1964 Buffalo Bills: Profiles of the AFL Champions''.

References

External links

Tim Newby articles for AmericanaUKTim Newby articles for SABRTim Newby articles for Slide & Banjo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Newby, Tim 1974 births Living people American music critics American music journalists