Local Musicians Saddle Up For Debut Country-Western Album

Budding musician Tim Motz cannot pinpoint the exact moment when he realized he wanted to write songs, but he has always known one thing.“Happy Birthday” is the worst song—ever.

It became painfully obvious on the evening of his 38th birthday, or, more specifically, during the second of three happy hours scheduled for the occasion. And as his friends belted out a spirited rendition of the tune at the bar, he decided—then and there—that he was going to rewrite the kitschy, childish classic.

“Frank Sinatra couldn’t even save it,” the now 44-year-old musician laughed last week, seated at Fellingham’s bar in Southampton. “It is tuneless and dead and awful. So, for whatever reason, I decided to write a better song—which I realize is not a high bar to surpass with ‘Happy Birthday.’ But it is a fun little snarky birthday song.”

Mr. Motz finished his ode to getting older that night, launching him down a rather unexpected path. Later this month, the Water Mill resident will release his 15-track debut album, “Songs From The Briar Patch,” alongside newfound friend and fellow musician Andrew Cooper, performing together as The Meatiers, during a launch party on Saturday night at Dockers Waterside in East Quogue.

About six years ago—a few weeks before his birthday song revelation—Mr. Motz had starting thinking about tunes and lyrics, ideas he attributes to reading “The Beatles: The Biography” by Bob Spitz and spending time reminiscing with his family in 2008, following his grandmother’s death.

Without a musical background—his unfortunate piano teacher turned him off from playing altogether by pulling his hair every time he hit a wrong note—Mr. Motz sat down at his piano and fumbled through the melodies in his head. Eventually, he matched them to lyrics, and before he knew it he had dozens of songs ready to be recorded.

There was one problem: He did not have a singer.

“For the sake of humanity, I don’t sing,” he said. “I don’t sing at all, but I do play rhythm guitar on the album.”

Soliciting help from Amagansett musician Inda Eaton, the friends worked together for nearly a year, recording the album’s instrumentals, until she walked through the door with an “interesting look on her face,” Mr. Motz recalled. She had found the voice.

Enter Mr. Cooper, and his low, raspy growl.

Singing on the East End for as long as he can remember, the Southampton native first got into music through his church, though one of his first musical memories is dancing around his house, wearing nothing but his underwear, to the vocal styling of Neil Young. Many years later, Mr. Cooper felt an instant connection to Mr. Motz’s music and its country theme that, oftentimes, took an interesting turn.

“I never wrote like that,” 31-year-old Mr. Cooper said, sitting next to Mr. Motz. “I could only write songs that were ‘you are what you are, and there is no getting around that.’ With this, it was the first time I got to step foot into almost a scene, where it has a county-western, good-old-time, bar sound.”

Contributing to that sound is a bevy of local artists—among them singers Dawnette Darden, Tara Mascolo and Klyph Black, drummer Jim Lawler, Mike Mazzaraco on lead guitar, pianist Joe Delia, trombonist Bob Hovey, and Ted Motz, who is “a wizard on the guitar,” his brother said.

Many of the album’s songs came to the Mr. Motz at random times, unlike “When the Aliens Came and Bought Up All the Beer,” which was more methodical. He wanted a “down-on-your-luck,” sad song that men could relate to, he said, and quickly decided on a plot: Men, all over the world, would be devastated if all the beer was taken away—and who better to do that than aliens.

“I have a lot of songs about people trying to steal my alcohol, so I probably need a therapist for that one,” he joked. “I needed a really weepy song, something that would destroy a guy. We aren’t the deepest gender, so that is what I came up with.

“You can really write about anything,” he continued. “They can be silly, funny, goofy, serious—it doesn’t matter. I think the big picture behind the music is to know that we are local and there are good things that come out of here. I think the biggest thing is to have the support from these local talents—to show that there is more than just beaches and vineyards out here.”

The Meatiers will launch their debut album, “Songs From The Briar Patch,” on Saturday, September 20, from 4 to 6 p.m. at Dockers Waterside in East Quogue. For more information, call 653-0653, or visit dockerswaterside.com.