Tim O'Brien

Bluegrass aficionado and strings master of the guitar, fiddle, mandolin and banjo, Tim O’Brien has devoted his life to honoring and energizing old time roots music. His newest endeavors stay true with bluegrass, Appalachian and Celtic traditionals, and field hollers, while bringing in new flavors of old-school rock 'n' roll, traditional jazz, mandolin blues and James Brownian funk. Tim emerged most prevalently as a founder of Hot Rize, recording ten albums, and earning the 1990 “Entertainer of the Year,” and 1991 “Song of the Year” by the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA). O’Brien himself won IBMA’s “Male Vocalist” (1993 and 2005) and “Song of the Year” (2005); a Grammy for Fiddler’s Green, a celebration of Appalachian music and its Celtic roots; and a Grammy nomination for Red on Blond, a set of bluegrass Dylan covers. He prolifically boasts 14 solo albums, three more with his sister, and numerous others recorded with the likes of Steve Earle, Mark Knopfler and Steve Martin. Further collaborations with Jerry Douglas, among others, garnered him a second Grammy and an IBMA “Record of the Year” (2015). Tim’s music is perfect for the intimate venue of the Center in the quintessential concert of the season.