Tim Gebauer has officially released exactly zero songs with his current songwriting project and booked as many official shows. So where do we get off putting him here, atop a crowded field of St. Louisans with razor-sharp pens? Well, as any who have seen Gebauer perform at an open-mic (with no amplifiers, standing on top of a chair, always) can attest, the man has plenty to say and no shortage of tools with which to say it. He writes about love with deeply resonant simplicity and sings with an easy grace and power. And we feel pretty confident about his ability to commit this stuff to tape — the man's been in bands in St. Louis for several decades and runs a commercial recording studio to boot. What unites all his disparate efforts in music is his endless curiosity and joy for wrangling sound waves of all shapes and sizes.