Following is a transcript of Timothy's appearance on Rockline.
Bob: Feed the Fire is the first Timothy B. Schmit solo album in around 11 years and we might have gotten one sooner were it not for some band that Timothy's in called the Eagles. I guess they do pretty well on their own. Good things are worth the wait though as Rockline welcomes Timothy B. Schmit. How are you tonight?
Timothy: I'm very well thank you.
Bob: Now how is my Hollywood Rockline studio tonight. You're where I usually am and I'm in New York City via satellite so how's my studio tonight?
Timothy: It's still intact. You're little sign that says Bob Coburn is still there and like we said, you know, I'm tempted to take it but we need a statue of you here.
Bob: If that nameplate's gone you'll pay Mr. Schmit, I want you to know that. Now did the Eagles play the other night? Somebody told me that they regrouped in Dallas for a charity, is that the case?
Timothy: Yeah, we did a benefit with Stevie Nicks and Trisha Yearwood in Dallas for MS, it's called the Yellow Rose Foundation. And yeah, we did about 10, I think we did about 10 songs.
Bob: That's great and I'm sure the society thanks you for that. Now 10 songs, you wrote about 30 songs over a 3 year period for this album. How did you pare it down to the 11 that are on Feed the Fire?
Timothy: Well, I go out in my studio at home a lot and that's what I do, I practice my craft. I write songs and I record them and I had a bunch of them on the shelf and I decided finally to look for the cream of the crop and see what sounded coherent as an album and put them together and there you have it.
Bob: Well it's a good collection and it's due May 1st. We're going to hit the phones here.
Kathy from Connecticut: I was wondering how you kept your solo project going for so many years with all the other things going on in your life.
Timothy: Well, my solo project has been really sort of on and off. For instance, I didn't record an album like he said for 11 years. It's just what I do every day. Like I said, I write songs, sing them and record them, that's what I do. I don't have hobbies, this is what I do, this is what I love to do.
Bob: Well we had Playin' It Cool in 84, Timothy B. in 87 and Tell Me the Truth in 1990 and now finally in 2001 we have a new one and it's due in just a matter of days actually. We are going to talk to Angela now who's in the Los Angeles area. Welcome to Rockline.
Angela: I was wondering if there were any artists on Feed the Fire that you would like to have played with but you didn't get a chance to.
Timothy: No, I think it worked out really well. There's not too many really well well known artists that played with me but they're all top notch but my friend Joe from the Eagles played on one tune and I think it came out just like I wanted it, maybe better.
Bob: That's wonderful to hear. We'd like to hear you play live. There's a song on Feed the Fire that's the opening track called The Shadow. Is there any chance I can get you to play that one Timothy?
Timothy: Well, I think I could do that.
Bob: I'd love to hear that.
(TImothy sings The Shadow live in the studio.)
Bob: Ah, yeah, that is so fine! Beautiful job, Timothy B. Schmit live on Rockline. The Shadow is the name of that and it gives you the title of the album, Feed the Fire, from the brand new album due in stores May 1st. That was excellent Timothy. Great job on that.
Timothy: Thank you.
Bob: We're you comfortable with that? It sounded great on the air. It sounded really good.
Timothy: Pretty comfortable. I'll tell you, the truth is that it's much easier to play in front of 50,000 people in a band, in the context of a band than it is to sit around with a few people live on the radio like this so I'm glad it came out okay.
Bob: You know, I can identify with that because when I'm speaking to a large crowd or introducing a band I have no nervousness at all but I talk to my homeowners association and I shake like a leaf.
Timothy: There you go.
Bob: That eye contact thing, it just drives me crazy. Let's hit the phones. We welcome Sam from the Portland Oregon area.
Sam: What kind of effect did Poco have on your career?
Timothy: Oh, it had a large, huge effect on me. That was the first band that I really started traveling the world, making records - we made 2 records a, 2 albums a year there for a while. We worked constantly. It's the first band that I went - the first time I went to New York City I was with that band, the first time I went to Europe I was with that band. I played Carnegie Hall,played Fillmore East. It was big. I would say that it had a - it was a good thing for me.
Bob: Would you agree that as great as the albums were by Poco, it was really the live show that set that band apart.
Timothy: Well, yes I would agree. Even though we got very frustrated with that fact. We did have a great live show. We would draw a lot of people. In some cities we could headline - we headlined a lot of cities but our record sales during the time I was with the band, they were okay but never really got, you know, over the edge there. And that was frustrating. I was very happy after I quit the band and joined the Eagles, which was a great move for me, I was really happy that their next album after I was not in it, was finally a hit so I thought that we all made out really well.
Bob: Sam, thanks for being on. We head to Seattle, just north of Portland and talk to Cisley. Welcome to Rockline.
Cisley: Hi Timothy. I wanted to know, outside of your work with Poco and the Eagles, you worked with so many other recording artists, do you any experiences that really stand out and if you'd mind sharing those with us.
Timothy: Ah, yeah, I've been forunate enough to work with a lot of great people. Just to single a few out, I guess one of my favorites is, actually I'm sort of proud about is my work with Steely Dan. I worked on 3 of their records, let's see, Pretzel Logic, Aja and Royal Scam. And the song Rikki Don't Loose That Number was the first song I heard myself on the radio every hour. It was great!. And then you know, I've gotten to sing with a lot of people, CS&N, my mind is blanking, I've got quite a great list though and I think they've all contributed to what I do now.
Bob: I'll help you out, Bob Seger, Dan Fogelberg, Julian Lennon and of course the band to me that you really stood out with was Spinal Tap. Is there a more legendary band anywhere in the history of rock.
Timothy: No, but I've got a topper. My wife was in that movie.
Bob: You're wife was in the movie? What part did she play?
Timothy: She's the fan that says " I'm one with the band" right in the beginning.
Bob: Ah, love it. The little tidbits you find out. We're going to go to Boston. This is Sandy.
Sandy: On Feed the Fire, which song is your favorite and why, and how would you compare Feed the Fire to Tell Me The Truth?
Timothy: Oh, I'll answer you're last question first. I think it's just far superior. It's more focused. I did it in a more relaxed manner. It sounds coherent to me. It's actually kind of hard for me to listen to that Tell Me The Truth album. Only because, for a couple of reasons, the production was way different back then. It's swimming in reverbs and stuff. This one basically I think has better songs, they're more of a coherent piece as an album. Do I have a favorite song on this new album - I think the one I just played is one of my favorites. I also, that's a composition I did myself. I did a lot of collaberating and did a couple of outside tunes as well. There's one more that's really personal and that's a song to my teenage daughter Owen, and it's called Song For Owen and it's the last cut on the album and we did strings on it and everything and it's just sort of a song from a father to a daughter. So, there's a couple but you know I - that's just a couple of my favorites.
Bob: How do you pronounce your new label. Is it LUcan?
Timothy: LuCAN.
Bob: And if things take off, are you going to sign other artists to your label?
Timothy: Well, we'll see. That's yet to be seen. I'm doing it, I'm just doing mine right now. It's very crazy right now. It's finally in place. I've learned a lot. I'm still learning and I'm gonna see what happens. I hope it does well enough to do that.
Bob: We hope so too. We'll return with Timothy in just a minute.
Bob: We're with Timothy B. Schmit and we're going to take your calls again in a second but right now an Eagles song and of course this is a signature song for Timothy B., I Can't Tell You Why on Rockline.
(play I Can't Tell You Why)
Bob: The Eagles I Can't Tell You Why featuring Timothy B. Schmit, my guest right now on Rockline. Welcome to Rockline Sarah.
Sarah: I was just wondering if they made a movie of your career, who would play you and what would the movie be called?
Timothy: That's not something I can come up with off the top of my head. I don't know. I have favorite movie stars. I see every Johnny Depp movie there is so, but you know, how could I be so presumptuous. I dont' know, that's a really great question. I'm gonna have to think about that and get back to you.
Bob: Well, you can have Johnny Depp in it and call it Chocolat
Timothy: There you go.
Bob: We're going to head to Culver City California. Adam, it's your turn to be on Rockline with Timothy B.
Adam: What was it like working with Ringo Starr's All Starr Band, with Burton Cummings and Todd Rundgren.
Timothy: It was really, really great. It was a lot of fun. The coolest part of that is just the fact that you're up there with a Beatle. I would be playing, you know, anybody's song who was in the band, and I'd be playing and every time I would look over my left shoulder and see Ringo playing there, I would just about leave the stage. It was just like, how good can it get. It was great fun. He's a great guy, Ringo's a great guy.
Bob: And that was a great band, the 92 edition there with Burton and Todd Rundgren and Dave Edmonds and Nils Lofgren, who boy, really torn it up with the E-Street band this last tour with Bruce.
Timothy: Yeah, that was a good band.
Bob: We're going to play a song off of your brand new cd, in stores May 1st, Feed the Fire, I'll Always Let You In. Tell us a little about this if you would please.
Timothy: This is one of the 4 songs that was produced by Mark Hudson, my friend Mark Hudson. He was originally going to do the entire album and he got taken away by Aerosmith. He did a lot of work on their newest album so I kept the cream of the crop that we did and this is the one that also has Joe on it, Joe's on this one and this song is written by me, Mark, and Steve Dudous(?) and Dean Grecall. This is called I'll Always Let You In.
Bob: I'll Always Let You In from the album Feed the Fire by Timothy B. Schmit and one thing about this album, it's definitely Timothy B. all the way through. You'll enjoy it immensely being a Timothy B. Schmit fan. We have a call from the Seattle area. This is Shannon.
Shannon: I was just wondering, do you know at this time if you have any up and coming tour plans?
Timothy: As a solo artist?
Shannon: Either that or with the Eagles?
Timothy: Not as a solo because, it's purely coincidental that my album is being released the time that the Eagles are getting back together. And we've been rehearsing to go to Europe at the end of May and my album is also being released at the same time there, again coincidental. So I'm, as a solo performer, I'm on hold for now. But the Eagles are gearing up again and we'll see what happens this time.
Bob: Yeah, we will indeed. Most of the Eagles stuff I guess is booked for Europe. I don't think there are any North American dates that have been scheduled, is that correct?
Timothy: We have one show at the end of the tour, at the end of July, I believe it's the 28th of July, I'm not sure, at the new American Airlines Center in Dallas. It's like the Staples Center of L.A.. We're up and running, the timing is right so we're going to hit one city there and then we're going to see what happens. We just may attempt to make another record. Spirits are up, things are good, people are getting along and we'll see what happens.
Bob: Alright, we will indeed see what happens. One of the oddities of your career is that you've replaced Randy Meisner twice in Poco and then the Eagles. Are you guys friends, just out of curiosity?
Timothy: Yeah, we're not close, we don't hang out with each other but we're definitely friendly. We bump into each other every once in a while and we're definitely friends.
Bob: Let's take a time out. We'll return with Timothy B. Schmit in just a moment.
Bob: We mentioned some of the rock people you've worked with earlier. You've also worked with a lot of Nashville people, Vince Gill, Clint Black, Pam Tillis, Tim McGraw, we're both baseball fans and I'm sure we're big fans of Tug McGraw, Tim's father. Ok, who has the ability to hit the highest note, you or Vince Gill.
Timothy: Oh gee, I wouldn't be surprised if it's him. He's a great singer. I think where I have to, at the point where I have to go into falsetto, I'm sure he's still full voice. I would have to give that to him.
Bob: That's amazing.
Timothy: He's a great singer.
Bob: The album is wonderful. It's in stores May 1st. Feed the Fire is the name of it. Thanks for being on and come back and see us again please if you would.
Timothy: Thank you very much.