Timothy Ray Menzies (born August 25, 1959), sometimes known as Tim Mensy, is an American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

artist. Initially, he was a member of the band

Bandana A kerchief (from the Old French ''couvrechief'', "cover head"), also known as a bandana, bandanna, or "Wild Rag" (in cowboy culture), is a triangular or square piece of cloth tied around the head, face or neck for protective or decorative purpos ...

, in which he charted several singles on the

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

charts in the 1980s. After leaving Bandana, Menzies began a solo career on

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

in 1990, releasing his debut album ''Stone by Stone'' that year. A second album, ''This Ol' Heart'', followed in 1992 on

Giant Records In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: '' gigas'', cognate giga-) are beings of human-like appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''giant'' is first attested in 1297 fr ...

. Overall, these two albums produced six singles for Menzies on the country charts as well. In addition to his work as a musician, Menzies has written songs for several artists, including

Mark Chesnutt Mark Nelson Chesnutt (born September 6, 1963) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Between 1990 and 1999, he had his greatest chart success recording for Universal Music Group Nashville's MCA and Decca branches, with a total of ei ...

Shelby Lynne Shelby Lynne (born Shelby Lynn Moorer, October 22, 1968) is an American singer and songwriter and the older sister of singer-songwriter Allison Moorer. The success of her pop rock album '' I Am Shelby Lynne'' (1999) led to her winning the Grammy ...

Trisha Yearwood Patricia Lynn Yearwood (born September 19, 1964) is an American singer, actress, author and television personality. She rose to fame with her 1991 debut single " She's in Love with the Boy," which became a number one hit on the ''Billboard'' c ...

, and

Reba McEntire Reba Nell McEntire (born March 28, 1955), or simply Reba, is an American country music singer and actress. Dubbed " the Queen of Country", she has sold more than 75 million records worldwide. Since the 1970s, McEntire has placed over 100 single ...

Biography

Menzies was born in

Mechanicsville, Virginia Mechanicsville is an unincorporated area and census-designated place (CDP) in Hanover County, Virginia, United States. The population was 36,348 during the 2010 census, up from 30,464 at the 2000 census. History The area was settled by Englis ...

. He debuted as a performer at age three, with a band his mother was a member of. Born to a musical family, he, his two brothers, two sisters, and parents performed throughout Virginia. They opened shows for

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and businesswoman, known primarily for her work in country music. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton made her album d ...

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his ca ...

and other country music stars. At age eight, he was playing mandolin in the band. Menzies suffered a hearing disorder as a child, which he overcame at age sixteen following seven operations. In the mid-1980s, he played guitar in the group

, which released ten singles for

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

between 1985 and 1987.Whitburn, p. 40 Menzies left the band in 1986 and was replaced by Michael Black and Billy Kemp. Menzies co-wrote the single "

Mama Knows "Mama Knows" is a song written by Tony Haselden and Tim Mensy, and recorded by American country music group Shenandoah. It was released in August 1988 as the first single from their album ''The Road Not Taken''. The song reached number 5 on the '' ...

," recorded by Shenandoah and released in 1989. That same year he signed to

, performing as Tim Mensy, with his debut album ''Stone by Stone'' following a year later. It produced three singles, all of which made the lower regions of the country music charts. A second album, ''This Ol' Heart'', followed on the

Giant In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: '' gigas'', cognate giga-) are beings of human-like appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''giant'' is first attested in 1297 fr ...

label in 1992. It included three singles, one of which ("She Dreams") was later a Top Ten hit for Mark Chesnutt in 1994. Menzies did not release another album until the self-titled ''Tim Mensy'' in 2002. In 2014, Tim Menzies released a Christian album titled ''His Way Of Loving Me''. It was released under his birth name and created with help from Ben Isaacs of

The Isaacs The Isaacs are a bluegrass Southern gospel music group consisting of mother Lily Isaacs (b. September 20, 1947), daughters Becky (b. Aug. 2, 1975) and Sonya Isaacs (b. July 22, 1974) and son Ben Isaacs (b. July 25, 1972), along with John Bowman (h ...

family band. His 2019 album ''His Name is Jesus'' was nominated for a

Grammy Award for Best Roots Gospel Album The Grammy Award for Best Roots Gospel Album has been an award category at the annual Grammy Awards since 2015. The award was first approved by the board of trustees of the Grammy Awards in June 2014. According to NARAS, the award was introdu ...

Discography

Albums

Singles

Music videos

References

External links

Tim Menzies official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mensy, Tim 1959 births People from Mechanicsville, Virginia American country singer-songwriters Living people Singer-songwriters from Virginia American country guitarists American male guitarists Columbia Records artists Giant Records (Warner) artists Guitarists from Virginia 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians American male singer-songwriters