Tim Kasher

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Tim Kasher performing with Cursive at the Sokol Underground

Tim Kasher (born August 19, 1974) is a musician from Omaha, Nebraska, and is the frontman of indie rock groups Cursive and The Good Life, both of which are on the Omaha based record label Saddle Creek Records. Prior to those bands, Kasher was in a band called Slowdown Virginia. He also made a brief appearance with the Omaha band Commander Venus and The March Hares.

Kasher has a very close relationship with Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes. They grew up in Nebraska together, went to the same Catholic high school, Creighton Prep. In the Bright Eyes song "Nothing Gets Crossed Out", Oberst sings, "Tim, I've heard your album. It's better than good." (referring to the album Black Out by Kasher's band, The Good Life, released in 2002 on Saddle Creek Records.) Furthermore, Oberst later sang backup on the song "Staying Alive," from Cursive's 2003 effort The Ugly Organ.

Kasher temporarily disbanded Cursive after the departure of guitarist Steve Pedersen (who left to pursue a law degree at Duke University. He now leads the Saddle Creek band Criteria). Kasher married a woman named Kim and moved to Portland, Oregon. According to interviews, Kasher went through a bitter divorce in 2000, which led to the regrouping of Cursive, as well as providing the inspiration for The Good Life album Black Out and Cursive's Domestica.

The Good Life was originally planned to be a solo project. Kasher wanted to experiment with different types of lyrics and melodies. He released Novena on a Nocturn on Better Looking Records. He then recruited Ryan Fox, Roger Lewis and Stefanie Drootin into the band and released Black Out, Lovers Need Lawyers EP and Album of the Year.

In 2002, Kasher suffered a collapsed lung and was forced to cancel all US tour dates at the time. Because he lacked health insurance, Saddle Creek asked fans for donations to help pay for the cost of the operation. After healing, recording on The Ugly Organ began.[1]

Kasher is currently promoting Cursive's new record Happy Hollow which was released on August 22, 2006. The Good Life, despite a near breakup in late 2005, is now also slated to return to the studio, with a new album release expected sometime in 2007.