09/01/2026
The Tim OāBrien Band
Tim OāBrien is a legend. So lucky to catch him for two sets at the fair yesterday. š„²
Tim grew up in Wheeling, West Virginia, singing in church and in school, and after catching Doc Watson on TV he became a lifelong devotee of old-time and bluegrass music. He started touring nationally in 1978 with the Colorado bluegrass band Hot Rize š„š„š„ the group that took home the very first IBMA Entertainer of the Year award in 1990, and the one that would famously walk offstage mid-show and come back as their own western-swing alter egos, Red Knuckles & the Trailblazers.
I came to Tim sideways, through my love for Yonder Mountain String Band. He produced their record *Town by Town* back in 2001 and played guitar on it, and turned up again on fiddle for *Old Hands*. Pull that thread and you end up at Hot Rize, and once youāre there you donāt come back.
The video here is āLittle Lamb Little Lamb,ā off his 2023 record *Cup of Sugar*. He wrote it just after turning 69 and has said it fell out of him in a single morning spring lambs kicking up their heels on a hillside, and a man watching them who knows heās only got so many springs left.
Heās joined by his wife Jan Fabricius on mandolin and vocals, Mike Bub on bass and Shad Cobb on fiddle.
Thanks for coming, Tim. Havenāt seen ya in 20 plus years and again what a treat. Come back anytime ā¤ļø
