Tim Foljahn is a Midland, Michigan-born psychoanalyst, artist, singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer. From the Kalamazoo punk and art scene in the early 1980’s (in noise bands such as the Spastic Rhythm Tarts and QRA), he moved around the country throughout the 80's (Chicago, Albuquerque, New Orleans) eventually relocating to Hoboken, New Jersey and and forming Two Dollar Guitar in 1992. With Steve Shelley of Sonic Youth (also from Midland) on drums and a revolving cast of band and tour mates, including Dave Motamed, Janet Wygal, Tim Prudhomme, Keith Nealy, Luc Suer, Christina Rosenvinge, Jeremy Wilms, Smokey Hormel and Come’s Chris Brokaw, the group released six albums on Shelley’s Smells Like Records label. The debut album, Let Me Bring You Down (1994), a heavy collection of dark brooding ballads, established Foljahn as a twisted classicist in the vein of Nick Cave, Leonard Cohen, and Lee Hazlewood. This mood was pushed further in 1996’s follow-up release, Burned and Buried, recorded at Easley Studios in Memphis. 1998 brought two experimental studies: the instrumental Train Songs, an improvisational meditation on Americana and travel, and the solo Hotel Opera, an intimate collection of lo-fi bedroom recordings released under the moniker La Lengua Asesina. 1999’s fan favorite, Weak Beats and Lame-ass Rhymes, was a moody pop flirtation, with echoes of Brigitte Fontaine and Areski, Astrud Gilberto, and Buffalo Springfield. The final Two Dollar Guitar album, The Wear and Tear of Fear: A Lover’s Discourse (2006), a solo, mostly acoustic affair, was mixed by Television’s Fred Smith, and marked Foljahn’s return to dark troubadour terrain.
During the Two Dollar Guitar run, Foljahn also collaborated, recorded and toured extensively with Jad Phair, Half Japanese and Mosquito; with Cat Power; Thurston Moore (Male Slut), appearing on the fantastic Psychic Hearts record; Spanish chanteuse, Christina Rosenvinge; and, most notably, with Townes Van Zandt, abandoning a Geffen Records project upon his death. (Foljahn appears in the 2004 Townes documentary, Be Here To Love Me.) In an incredible turn of events, Tim was the guitar player for the Boredoms on a US tour. From 2006-2008, he gigged with Pussy Galore’s Bob Bert and Mark C (Live Skull) in the art-psych band Int’l Shades, as well as playing bass and recording in projects with Smells Like Records artist, John Wolfington; Megan Reilly, Jennifer O’Connor, and ex-Int’l Shades band mate, Alexa Wilding .
In 2012, as TIM FOLJAHN, he released Songs for an Age of Extinction and then in 2015 Fucking Love Songs, both on Kiam Records. 2021 saw the release of I Dreamed a Dream on CART/HORSE records (available on Bandcamp). The first of this trilogy is a solo effort recorded at home. The next two were recorded, mixed and produced by Tom Beaujour at Nuthouse Recordings. I Dreamed a Dream features the tectonic string arrangements by Jeremy Wilms and oracular vocals arranged and performed by Christina Rosenvinge. And somewhere in there, he appeared in several episodes of Orange is the New Black on Netflix.
Meanwhile, he got his masters in psychoanalysis and is now licensed in New York and seeing patients. He is the editor of MODERN PSYCHOANALYSIS, The Journal of the Center for Modern Psychoanalytic Studies.