Born in Wheeling, West Virginia on March 16, 1954, Grammy winning singer/songwriter and multi instrumentalist Tim O’Brien grew up singing in church and in school, and after seeing Doc Watson on TV, became a lifelong devotee of old time and bluegrass music. 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 soon more artists like Nickel Creek and Garth Brooks covered his songs. Over the years, Tim has released 15 solo CD’s, 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, friend of the program, Bill Frisell, and Steve Martin and produced records for Yonder Mountain String Band, David Bromberg, and Canada’s Old Man Luedecke.
I had the honor of chatting with Tim ahead of the March 28th show at the Stoughton Opera House ahead of the March 28th show featuring the Tim O’Brien Band. Tim and I get into what a newbie to the scene could expect from an evening with the Tim O’Brien Band. We dive deep into their brand new self-titled album, talking about the seed to flower growth of its songs and style. The album dropped today. It is always of interest to get into the music scene changes from artists that have been around the block a few times and Mr. O’Brien is no exception. We talk about some of the gifts and challenges of the scene today versus some odd years aGo, when he first got started. If you’ve ever wondered what he might share if given the opportunity to take over a radio show, Tim tells us what he would share if he had some time programming greenarrowradio one of these day.
