Month: July 2017

TIMOTHY “TC” CHANDLER

KEYBOARDIST / MUSICAL DIRECTOR

 

Born and raised in East Saint Louis, IL, TC has been musically inclined since the age of 2.

“My man pots and pans biscuits and gravy” is a phrase he consistently utters to no avail; a vague expression probably derived from the fact that he used “pots and pans” as percussive instruments during his early morning jam sessions as a child. These skills manifested in his development as a drummer with his grade school and junior high school concert, marching, and jazz bands.  At the age of 15, however, the necessity for a pianist with his Mother’s choir at his Father’s church inadvertently created a fork in the road of his musical journey, thereby diverting his full and unadulterated attention to the piano and keyboards.

TC has been a part of various musical ensembles ranging from classical, jazz, and R&B to blues, rock, and SKA.  Upon completing his Bachelor’s of Science in Mechanical Engineering and Master’s of BusinessAdministration in Finance at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, he was a mechanical engineer by day, and moonlighted as a pianist only on the weekends.  His passion for the piano led him to eventually leave Corporate America behind to pursue a full-time career as a musician in Las Vegas.  His musical credits include playing behind national recording artists Trenyce of American Idol fame, R&B great Tony Terry, The Village People featuring original lead singer Victor Willis, Richard Street’s Temptations, Cherelle, Alexander O’Neal, The Calloway Brothers of Midnight Star, and The Hitzville Show of Las Vegas.  After performing in Las Vegas for 7 years, he spent 2 years as a cruise ship musician.

Currently residing in the St. Louis metropolitan area, TC has recently completed his second Bachelor’s, and third overall degree, from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville in Music concentrating on Jazz Performance for Piano.  In addition to the aforementioned credits and responsibilities, since June 2014 to the present, TC is currently the first chair Pianist/Keyboardist for 6-time Grammy Award winning and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Dennis Edwards and his Temptations Revue while simultaneously serving as part of the fantastic EMP Productions studio team alongside producer Eugene Patterson.