From trailer to touring musician

Tim Montana grew up in a single-wide trailer with no electricity and an outhouse in rural Montana. He taught himself guitar on a nylon-string acoustic and Squier while making a deal with himself: if music didn't work by age 40, he'd find another career.

“I'm very fortunate now, but a single-wide trailer with no electricity and an outhouse is how I spent most of my life.”

Breakthrough hit at 39 and a half

After nearly two decades of grinding, Montana's song Devil You Know became his first bonafide hit when he was 39 and a half years old. The breakthrough suddenly opened doors to collaborate with his guitar heroes.

“It was getting close, and all of a sudden, bam, we smack one up the Billboard charts!”

Billy Gibbons co-owns a music venue

Montana co-owns the Wise River Club in Montana with Billy Gibbons, a musical mountain outpost where the two collaborate. Gibbons has become a big-brother figure, mentoring Montana on his playing, wardrobe, and even building a 1942 Ford street rod together.

Brown Sugar with Gibbons and Slash

For his seventh album Entire State of Tim Montana, Montana recorded a cover of Brown Sugar with Billy Gibbons on intro. When Gibbons reached out to Slash at his birthday jam, Slash texted back two hours later saying he was in, completing his part in 48 hours.

Jerry Cantrell adds his signature sound

Montana met Alice in Chains guitarist Jerry Cantrell while touring with Bush in 2024. Cantrell added his distinctive wah-wah pedal to Kinda Like It after a hunting conversation led to talk of the Gibbons and Slash collaboration.

“You hear the first 60 seconds of that song and that insidious wah pedal, and there's only one person on planet Earth who does that.”

Nervous about sounding like his idol

Montana worried Cantrell might think he was copying his sound. He solved the problem by having Cantrell play the part himself, making it unmistakably authentic and turning a potential concern into the song's highlight.

“I was kind of nervous that he was gonna be like, 'Are you ripping off my sound?' I fixed that problem by having him play it!”

Childhood dreams became reality

Montana says he hasn't changed much since childhood, still devoted to grunge and rock and roll. Now he's found his heroes and the people he's listened to his entire life, turning a kid's dream into a working collaboration.

“I went and found my heroes, the people that I've listened to my entire life.”