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Product Description
CD Description
Companion volume to CORNBREAD NATION (SHCD4005). Tim O'Brien is an icon in American acoustic music, including folk, bluegrass and old-time. As a founding member of the bluegrass act Hot Rize, he honed his chops as the quintessential front man and entertainer. Equally respected as a songwriter, his songs have been cut by the likes of The Dixie Chicks, Garth Brooks, Kathy Mattea and Nickel Creek. O'Brien has gone on to lead his own band as well as several side projects and has become a staple at summer festivals across the US and in Europe. As the president of the International Bluegrass Music Association O'Brien has helped to further mould the future of a genre that has been the backbone of much of his career. Tracks on SHCD4006: Pretty Fair Maid In The Garden / Look Down That Lonesome Road / Fiddler's Green / Land's End - Chasin' Talon / Fair Flowers Of The Valley / Foreign Lander / Buffalo Skinners / First Snow / Train On The Island / Long Black Veil / A Few More Years / Early Morning Rain. Also available: TRAVELER (SHCD3978), TWO JOURNEYS (SHCD3954) and 11 others.
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12 reviews
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful
His musical acumen demonstrates keen insight and creativity.
24 Oct 2005
Format:Audio CD
Playing Time - 47:34 -- Over the years, multi-instrumentalist Tim O'Brien has shown the unusual knack to be equally comfortable with jazz, bluegrass, swing, and Celtic music. The eclectic acoustic musician, originally from West Virginia, is certainly not afraid to walk the line between several genres of music. Thus, he's become one of the purveyors and ambassadors of Americana music. Besides being a fine singer with a definable sound, Tim plays guitar, fiddle, bouzouki, and mandolin on this album.
The title cut is a bounding tale of the sea written by Pete Goble which speaks of a sailor being "lured by the tradewinds" to find that enchanting but mythical utopia with women, music and sustenance. When Tim wants a rousing Celtic feeling ("Land's End/Chasin' Talon), he supplements his own mandolin with the support of guys like Jack Doyle (guitar), Kenny Malone (djembe, cajon), Casey Driessen (fiddle), Dirk Powell (bass), Seamus Egan (low whistle). The bluegrass line-up ("Look Down that Lonesome Road") enlists veteran sidemen like Charlie Cushman (banjo), Jerry Douglas (resophonic guitar), Dan Tyminski (guitar), and Dennis Crouch (bass). What is particularly nice is that Tim's arrangements range from a fiddle/vocal solo ("A Few More Years") or guitar/vocal solo ("Buffalo Skinner") to full ensembles that incorporate dynamics into the genesis of their songs like "Fair Flowers of the Valley" that features Tim singing with his sister, Mollie. Another lean, but very successful, arrangement is the duo "Foreign Lander" (Tim's fiddle/vocals with Edgar Meyer playing arco bass) that presents a ballad of a rambling soldier conquered by his love's beauty.
The last third of the album (4 songs) has a good cross-section of Tim's approach. His original and high-stepping old-timey "Train on the Island" introduces Chris Thile (mandolin) and Stuart Duncan (banjo, fiddle). While the twin fiddling is spectacular, I missed hearing some vocal harmony on the refrain "train on the island, hear that whistle blow." After the lean "A Few More Years," we're treated to perhaps one of the best arrangements ever of an old favorite, "Long Black Veil." Dan Dugmore's pedal steel gives the song its unique eeriness, and the duo is sung with Darrell Scott. Tim closes the project with "Early Morning Rain," from a profound troubadour not too unlike himself, Gordon Lightfoot. The sweet notes of bouzouki, fiddle and mandolin weave their way effortlessly between the words.
O'Brien is a minstrel with great command of his lyrics and melodies. Besides being a songcarrier for traditional music, he's also a songsmith of contemporary songs that could've been written hundereds of years ago. His musical acumen demonstrates keen insight and creativity. With his astute approach of emphasizing diversity, Tim O'Brien offers a set with plenty for everyone. (Joe Ross, staff writer, Bluegrass Now)
The title cut is a bounding tale of the sea written by Pete Goble which speaks of a sailor being "lured by the tradewinds" to find that enchanting but mythical utopia with women, music and sustenance. When Tim wants a rousing Celtic feeling ("Land's End/Chasin' Talon), he supplements his own mandolin with the support of guys like Jack Doyle (guitar), Kenny Malone (djembe, cajon), Casey Driessen (fiddle), Dirk Powell (bass), Seamus Egan (low whistle). The bluegrass line-up ("Look Down that Lonesome Road") enlists veteran sidemen like Charlie Cushman (banjo), Jerry Douglas (resophonic guitar), Dan Tyminski (guitar), and Dennis Crouch (bass). What is particularly nice is that Tim's arrangements range from a fiddle/vocal solo ("A Few More Years") or guitar/vocal solo ("Buffalo Skinner") to full ensembles that incorporate dynamics into the genesis of their songs like "Fair Flowers of the Valley" that features Tim singing with his sister, Mollie. Another lean, but very successful, arrangement is the duo "Foreign Lander" (Tim's fiddle/vocals with Edgar Meyer playing arco bass) that presents a ballad of a rambling soldier conquered by his love's beauty.
The last third of the album (4 songs) has a good cross-section of Tim's approach. His original and high-stepping old-timey "Train on the Island" introduces Chris Thile (mandolin) and Stuart Duncan (banjo, fiddle). While the twin fiddling is spectacular, I missed hearing some vocal harmony on the refrain "train on the island, hear that whistle blow." After the lean "A Few More Years," we're treated to perhaps one of the best arrangements ever of an old favorite, "Long Black Veil." Dan Dugmore's pedal steel gives the song its unique eeriness, and the duo is sung with Darrell Scott. Tim closes the project with "Early Morning Rain," from a profound troubadour not too unlike himself, Gordon Lightfoot. The sweet notes of bouzouki, fiddle and mandolin weave their way effortlessly between the words.
O'Brien is a minstrel with great command of his lyrics and melodies. Besides being a songcarrier for traditional music, he's also a songsmith of contemporary songs that could've been written hundereds of years ago. His musical acumen demonstrates keen insight and creativity. With his astute approach of emphasizing diversity, Tim O'Brien offers a set with plenty for everyone. (Joe Ross, staff writer, Bluegrass Now)
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
I finally jumped
14 Jan 2006
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
I've been 'aware' of Tim O'Brien since I saw Hot Rize on Austin City Limits, some years ago. But what attracted me to THIS particular CD was hearing his take of Gordon Lightfoot's Early Morning Rain.
He got me. First lick of the first song (Pretty Fair Maid in the Garden)pushed me off the fence and solidly into Tim O'Brien fandom.
He says, in the liner notes "This is intimate music, good for a quiet morning or an evening at home. A few solos,a duet, some spare acoustic ensembles. There's a good dose of fiddling, and about half the songs are traditional. Traditional music sometimes seems mysterious, but it's always familiar."
That's it. I know more than one song on the CD, but somehow he makes even the ones I don't know feel like re-introductions to old friends.
Congrats for the Grammy nomination, Tim. It should have happened a long time ago.
He got me. First lick of the first song (Pretty Fair Maid in the Garden)pushed me off the fence and solidly into Tim O'Brien fandom.
He says, in the liner notes "This is intimate music, good for a quiet morning or an evening at home. A few solos,a duet, some spare acoustic ensembles. There's a good dose of fiddling, and about half the songs are traditional. Traditional music sometimes seems mysterious, but it's always familiar."
That's it. I know more than one song on the CD, but somehow he makes even the ones I don't know feel like re-introductions to old friends.
Congrats for the Grammy nomination, Tim. It should have happened a long time ago.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Great bluegrass music
7 Nov 2006
Format:Audio CD
Tim O'Brien was born in heart of bluegrass music country, in Wheeling West Virginia, in 1954. And in 1970, he moved to Colorado and moved into professional music. The rest, as they say, is history. He's a master of the guitar, the fiddle, the mandolin, and other instruments, and he produces some of the greatest bluegrass music made today.
This album is another in a long list of Tim O'Brien's works of art, and it is just as good as his others. The songs are a fine selection of Appalachian and Scots-Irish tunes, carrying the listener back and forth across space and time. I loved Pretty Fair Maid In The Garden and Foreign Lander, and really loved the musical numbers Land's End/Chasin' Talon and First Snow.
Overall, I found this to be a great album, and have listened to it over and over again. If you like the sound of great bluegrass music, then you will like this CD - I sure know I did! I give this CD my highest recommendations.
This album is another in a long list of Tim O'Brien's works of art, and it is just as good as his others. The songs are a fine selection of Appalachian and Scots-Irish tunes, carrying the listener back and forth across space and time. I loved Pretty Fair Maid In The Garden and Foreign Lander, and really loved the musical numbers Land's End/Chasin' Talon and First Snow.
Overall, I found this to be a great album, and have listened to it over and over again. If you like the sound of great bluegrass music, then you will like this CD - I sure know I did! I give this CD my highest recommendations.
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