Reynolds has stated, "I come from nowhere mostly. My dad was in the Army so we moved around a lot. Germany is where I was born, and after that we lived on a farm in Indiana, then on an army base in Alaska, then to Kansas, then to Missouri, where we lived the longest (thus the nowhere). Then I moved to Virginia, and I was there for 17 years or so. Now I live in New Mexico and this is the best place I could be. I mostly come from space."

As the child of pious, fiercely conservative parents, Reynold's musical introduction began at age 12, playing electric bass before writhing congregations of ecstatic worshippers three times a week (over 1000 times) until his high school graduation. Tiring of the constraints of imposed conservatism, he secretly plunged into jazz and "forbidden" late 1960s and early 1970s psychedelic rock. At age 18, he left home to join a group of "experimental" musicians. After absorbing much from them and the dozen other bands (from disco to country) that followed, he eventually settled in Charlottesville, Virginia.

There he founded TR3. It was in this environment that Tim could explore his art, with impromptu performances on sitar, solo jazz guitar, solo djembe, twelve string guitar, violin, and mandolin. Tim's influences, which include Carlos Santana, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley and Led Zeppelin, among others, are indirectly felt in the fabric of Tim's power trio and solo projects.