Tim O’Brien Band Review
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After many years navigating the outskirts of bluegrass and acoustic music, Tim O’Brien’s is back with two feed firmly planted in the bluegrass traditions. Born in Wheeling, West Virginia in 1954, Grammy winning singer songwriter and multi instrumentalist Tim O’Brien grew up singing in church and school. Tim first toured nationally in the 1980’s with Colorado bluegrass band Hot Rize. Kathy Mattea scored a country hit with his song “Walk The Way The Wind Blows,” in 1986, and thereafter artists like Nickel Creek and Garth Brooks covered his songs. Over the years, Tim has released 15 solo CDs, as well as collaborations with his sister Mollie O’Brien, songwriter Darrell Scott, and noted old time musician Dirk Powell. He’s performed or recorded with Steve Earle, Mark Knopfler, Bill Frisell, and Steve Martin, and produced records for Yonder Mountain String Band, Kathy Mattea, and Canada’s Old Man Luedecke. His latest release Tim O’Brien Band is the amalgamation of perfectly poised musicians celebrating the beautiful authenticity of bluegrass music.
Positives:
Tim is back in the guitar chair and his driving sense of time and seamless single lines soar with sensibility. Outstanding playing by, this band has chops!
Bottom Line:
O’Brien has enjoyed a diverse career, with Tim O’Brien Band he makes his return with a blazing sound. O’Brien’s mandolin and fiddle cravings are satisfied on select tracks, through occasional overdubbing, and with the help of special guest guitarist and Hot Rize cohort Bryan Sutton on two numbers. Also, of note is the harmony vocals of Jan Fabricius. “We've sung together informally since she became my partner seven years ago, and she's always had a real natural way with the harmony, kinda pasting her sound onto mine,” explains O’Brien. At its core Tim O’Brien Band is a bluegrass record, yet he still manages to tap into the rambling folklorist nature that Tim is known for. It’s good to see O’Brien back in the bluegrass lane, his unmistakable abilities are front and center and it’s a welcomed sound. That’s the short of it!