Tim O'Brien (musician)
Encyclopedia
Tim O'Brien is an American
country
and bluegrass
musician. In addition to singing, he plays guitar
, fiddle
, mandolin
, banjo
, bouzouki
and mandocello
. To date, he has released more than ten studio albums, in addition to charting a duet with Kathy Mattea
entitled "The Battle Hymn of Love", a #9 hit on the Billboard
Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs
) charts in 1990.
record, played by his sister Mollie, afterwards deciding to take up music. Throughout his teens, he taught himself to play guitar
, violin
, and mandolin
.
As a boy of the 1950s he had his ears wide open to the country and bluegrass melting pot on the local WWVA
show, as well as the Beatles on the radio. In 1973, he dropped out of Colby College
to pursue music professionally. He wrote to his mother at the time, saying, He eventually moved to Boulder, Colorado
in the 1970s and became part of the music scene there.
In Colorado
he met guitarist Charles Sawtelle, banjoist Pete Wernick
, and bassist/ vocalist Nick Forster, with whom he formed Hot Rize
in 1978. Over the next twelve years, the quartet earned recognition as one of America's most innovative and entertaining bluegrass bands. Never straying too far from a traditional sound, Hot Rize stood out with fresh harmony singing, Wernick's melodic banjo playing, and O'Brien's easy-going rhythmic drive.
To broaden their repertoire, the members of Hot Rize would often split their show with a set of classic and offbeat country and western music in the comic guise of Red Knuckles and the Trailblazers. The band would walk off stage, change clothes, and reappear as a different band (O'Brien assumed the mantle of "Red Knuckles"), with its own songs, fictional back story and odd costumes. Hot Rize was the International Bluegrass Music Association's first Entertainer of the Year in 1990, and in 1993, O'Brien took the IBMA's Male Vocalist of the Year honors.
In 1990, Hot Rize disbanded as a regular touring and recording band.
Tim O'Brien also produced at least one instructional video/DVD of mandolin and bouzouki instruments.
, recording an album
with them called "Odd Man In", before being dropped. Sugar Hill Records eventually released the album, and O'Brien has not signed to a major since. In 1990, O'Brien also charted along with Kathy Mattea
on the duet "The Battle Hymn of Love", which peaked at #9 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts.
In 2010, O'Brien featured prominently on Kris Drever
's second solo album, Mark the Hard Earth
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
country
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
and bluegrass
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
musician. In addition to singing, he plays guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, fiddle
Fiddle
The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
, mandolin
Mandolin
A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
, banjo
Banjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
, bouzouki
Bouzouki
The bouzouki , is a musical instrument with Greek origin in the lute family. A mainstay of modern Greek music, the front of the body is flat and is usually heavily inlaid with mother-of-pearl. The instrument is played with a plectrum and has a sharp metallic sound, reminiscent of a mandolin but...
and mandocello
Mandocello
The mandocello is a plucked string instrument of the mandolin family. It has eight strings in four paired courses, tuned in 5ths like a mandolin, but is larger, and tuned CC-GG-dd-aa . It is to the mandolin what the cello is to the violin.-Construction:Mandocello construction is similar to the...
. To date, he has released more than ten studio albums, in addition to charting a duet with Kathy Mattea
Kathy Mattea
Kathleen Alice "Kathy" Mattea is an American country music and bluegrass performer who often brings folk, Celtic and traditional country sounds to her music. Active since 1983 as a recording artist, she has recorded seventeen albums and has charted more than thirty singles on the Billboard Hot...
entitled "The Battle Hymn of Love", a #9 hit on the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...
) charts in 1990.
History
At the age of 12, he first heard a Bob DylanBob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
record, played by his sister Mollie, afterwards deciding to take up music. Throughout his teens, he taught himself to play guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, violin
Fiddle
The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
, and mandolin
Mandolin
A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
.
As a boy of the 1950s he had his ears wide open to the country and bluegrass melting pot on the local WWVA
WWVA (AM)
WWVA is an AM radio station that broadcasts on a frequency of 1170 kHz with studios in Wheeling, West Virginia, USA, and towers formerly located in St. Clairsville, Ohio, before they were destroyed in an August 2010 storm...
show, as well as the Beatles on the radio. In 1973, he dropped out of Colby College
Colby College
Colby College is a private liberal arts college located on Mayflower Hill in Waterville, Maine. Founded in 1813, it is the 12th-oldest independent liberal arts college in the United States...
to pursue music professionally. He wrote to his mother at the time, saying, He eventually moved to Boulder, Colorado
Boulder, Colorado
Boulder is the county seat and most populous city of Boulder County and the 11th most populous city in the U.S. state of Colorado. Boulder is located at the base of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of...
in the 1970s and became part of the music scene there.
In Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
he met guitarist Charles Sawtelle, banjoist Pete Wernick
Pete Wernick
Pete Wernick, also known by many as "Dr. Banjo", is an American musician.He is a five-string banjo player who has been involved in the bluegrass music scene since the 1970s, writing several instruction books and videos on how to play the banjo. He's also known for his own musical style called...
, and bassist/ vocalist Nick Forster, with whom he formed Hot Rize
Hot Rize
Hot Rize is a bluegrass band that rose to prominence in the early 1980s. Established in 1978, the founding members were Mike Scap , Tim O'Brien on mandolin and fiddle, Pete Wernick on banjo and Charles Sawtelle on bass....
in 1978. Over the next twelve years, the quartet earned recognition as one of America's most innovative and entertaining bluegrass bands. Never straying too far from a traditional sound, Hot Rize stood out with fresh harmony singing, Wernick's melodic banjo playing, and O'Brien's easy-going rhythmic drive.
To broaden their repertoire, the members of Hot Rize would often split their show with a set of classic and offbeat country and western music in the comic guise of Red Knuckles and the Trailblazers. The band would walk off stage, change clothes, and reappear as a different band (O'Brien assumed the mantle of "Red Knuckles"), with its own songs, fictional back story and odd costumes. Hot Rize was the International Bluegrass Music Association's first Entertainer of the Year in 1990, and in 1993, O'Brien took the IBMA's Male Vocalist of the Year honors.
In 1990, Hot Rize disbanded as a regular touring and recording band.
Tim O'Brien also produced at least one instructional video/DVD of mandolin and bouzouki instruments.
Solo career
O'Brien, who had already recorded several albums without Hot Rize, embarked on a solo career. He briefly signed to RCA recordsRCA Records
RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...
, recording an album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
with them called "Odd Man In", before being dropped. Sugar Hill Records eventually released the album, and O'Brien has not signed to a major since. In 1990, O'Brien also charted along with Kathy Mattea
Kathy Mattea
Kathleen Alice "Kathy" Mattea is an American country music and bluegrass performer who often brings folk, Celtic and traditional country sounds to her music. Active since 1983 as a recording artist, she has recorded seventeen albums and has charted more than thirty singles on the Billboard Hot...
on the duet "The Battle Hymn of Love", which peaked at #9 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts.
In 2010, O'Brien featured prominently on Kris Drever
Kris Drever
Kris Drever is a Scottish contemporary folk musician and songwriter, who came to prominence in 2006 with the release of his debut solo album, Black Water...
's second solo album, Mark the Hard Earth
Mark the Hard Earth
Mark the Hard Earth is the second solo album by contemporary folk musician Kris Drever, released January 2010 at Celtic Connections. The album was officially released on March 8, 2010.-Track listing:#"Mark the Hard Earth" - 4:45#"This Old Song" - 3:54...
.
Style and sound
"I wanted to do the whole spectrum of folk music from one guy singing and playing guitar or fiddle to a full band with electric guitar," O'Brien said. And that's how the pair (of albums) came out, like folk music bookends. Fiddler's Green tends toward the intimate and traditional, while Cornbread Nation is a bit funkier and tempo-driven. On both, however, old-time tunes sit comfortably next to originals and a few classic country songs by the likes of Jimmie Rodgers and Harlan Howard. "I could have taken all traditional songs, but I love stuff like 'California Blues' and 'Busted,' which are like folk songs to me, and they fit with the others, and it shows that what is called country music is just another footstep down the same path. Rock and roll, a lot of that is the same too."Distinctions and awards
- In 2005, O'Brien won a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk AlbumGrammy Award for Best Traditional Folk AlbumThe Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album was awarded from 1987 to 2011. Until 1993 the award was known as the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Recording.An award for Best Contemporary Folk Album was also presented...
for Fiddler's Green. - In 1993 and 2006, O'Brien was honored with the International Bluegrass Music AssociationInternational Bluegrass Music AssociationThe International Bluegrass Music Association, or IBMA, is a trade association to promote bluegrass music.Formed in 1985, IBMA established its first headquarters in Owensboro, Kentucky. In 1988 they announced plans to create the International Bluegrass Music Museum as a joint venture with...
's (IBMA)'s Male Vocalist of the Year award. - His band Hot RizeHot RizeHot Rize is a bluegrass band that rose to prominence in the early 1980s. Established in 1978, the founding members were Mike Scap , Tim O'Brien on mandolin and fiddle, Pete Wernick on banjo and Charles Sawtelle on bass....
was the IBMA's first Entertainer of the Year in 1990.
Albums
| Year | Album | US Bluegrass | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Hard Year Blues | Flying Fish | |
| 1988 | Take Me Back | Sugar Hill | |
| 1991 | Odd Man In | ||
| 1992 | Remember Me | ||
| 1993 | Oh Boy! O'Boy! | ||
| 1994 | Away Out on the Mountain | ||
| 1995 | Rock in My Shoe | ||
| 1996 | Red on Blonde Red on Blonde Red on Blonde is a 1996 album of Bob Dylan covers by contemporary folk/bluegrass musician Tim O'Brien. The title is a reference to Dylan's 1966 album, Blonde on Blonde and Tim's alter-ego during his Hot Rize days- Red Knuckles, leader of the Western Swing outfit, Red Knuckles and the... |
||
| 1997 | When No One's Around | ||
| 1999 | The Crossing | Alula Records | |
| 2000 | Real Time (with Darrell Scott Darrell Scott James Darrell Scott known as Darrell Scott , the son of musician Wayne Scott with whom he has collaborated, is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He moved as a child to East Gary, Indiana. He was playing professionally by his teens in Southern California, later living in... ) |
Howdy Skies | |
| 2001 | Two Journeys | ||
| 2003 | TravelerA | 8 | Sugar Hill |
| 2005 | Cornbread Nation | 7 | |
| Fiddler's Green | 9 | ||
| 2008 | Chameleon | 6 | Howdy Skies |
| 2010 | Chicken & Egg | 4 |
- ATraveler also peaked at #74 on Top Country Albums.
Singles
| Year | Song | Chart Positions | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Country Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales... |
CAN Country | |||
| 1990 | "The Battle Hymn of Love The Battle Hymn of Love "The Battle Hymn of Love" is a single by American country music artists Kathy Mattea and Tim O'Brien. Released in 1990, it was the first new single from Mattea's album A Collection of Hits. The song reached #9 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart.-Chart performance:... " (w/ Kathy Mattea Kathy Mattea Kathleen Alice "Kathy" Mattea is an American country music and bluegrass performer who often brings folk, Celtic and traditional country sounds to her music. Active since 1983 as a recording artist, she has recorded seventeen albums and has charted more than thirty singles on the Billboard Hot... ) |
9 | 10 | A Collection of Hits A Collection of Hits - Chart performance :... (Kathy Mattea album) |