HOW TO GO
WHO: Tim Jennens
WHERE: Von Maur, 100 Magnolia Lane, The Greene, Beavercreek
WHEN: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., and 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 14
COST: Free
MORE INFO: www.thegreene.com
WHERE: Park City Club, 580 Lincoln Park Blvd, Kettering
WHEN: 6 to 10 p.m. Thursdays
COST: Free
MORE INFO: 937-949-3048 or www.parkdayton.com
ARTIST INFO: www.timjennensmusic.com
As a professional musician in Dayton, Tim Jennens knows what it means to hustle. The local keyboardist pays the bills by playing with bands like Brass Tracks and doing solo performances. He has a regular gig as a pianist in the retail store Von Maur at The Greene and a weekly Thursday night residency at the Park City Club in Kettering.
“I’ve been playing piano at Von Maur for the last eight years, and I really love it,” Jennens said. “The store has a group of six piano players and five of us have been there since the store opened so everybody has hung on. I’m not just a rocker that plays in bands — I have a pretty big repertoire. I can play a wide variety of things there and it doesn’t conflict with anything so it’s perfect.”
In March 2000, the Kentucky transplant started working as a bus driver for Dayton Public Schools. It was his first non-musical day job as an adult.
“I got old and I needed health insurance, which is something musicians, as a rule, don’t have,” Jennens said. “My whole life, I raised a family, three kids, and I supported them by playing. Then a long term gig came to an end and I scrambled for a couple of years.
“I wasn’t making the money I had been making and I fell into this job as a bus driver,” he continued. “It was good but it was definitely a change. For the first six months of doing that I really thought I had sold out but I learned to love it.”
Jennens retired from bus driving in July.
“I really did like the job and the security of it,” he said. “I was good at it. I was on time. I loved the kids and I enjoyed being a service to them because it’s needed in this day and age.”
Bus driving also led to Jennens writing and recording music at home.
“I’ve really enjoyed doing the digital music thing the last 13 or 14 years,” he said. “Bus driving was a blessing in disguise because it afforded me the opportunity to make some money. I bought a computer and a lot of software and I started learning how to use the technology.
“I’ve really embraced it,” Jennens added. “I’ve been writing a lot of stuff in my kitchen at home like millions of other people are probably doing too. I wish it had been around 40 years ago because it has given me the opportunity to be really creative.”
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