Biography

“Cup of Sugar” drops June 16, 2023

Grammy award winning Americana artist Tim O’Brien is back with a strong follow up to 2021’s “He Walked On”. Including 13 new originals about a bear, a fish, lambs, horses, and some people too - a grave digger, a neighbor, and even Walter Cronkite - Cup of Sugar” is a feel good summer release with humor on top and deeper meanings just below the surface.

Mullti-instrumental list O’Brien is backed by his loyal band mates Mike Bub, Shad Cobb and wife Jan Fabricius, supplemented by Jamie Dick on drums, Mike Rojas on keyboards, Russ Pahl on steel guitar, and Cory Walker on banjo. Bluegrass icon Del McCoury lends his signature guitar and tenor vocal on “Let the Horses Run”. Co-writers include Ronnie Bowman, Jonathon Byrd, Shawn Camp, Davison Brothers, Jan Fabricius, and Thomm Jutz. Sounding more and more like himself, O’Brien will debut the new material from “Cup of Sugar” at the 50th annual Telluride Bluegrass festival on June 17.

TIM OBRIEN BIO:
Born in Wheeling, West Virginia in 1954, Grammy winning singer songwriter and multi- instrumentalist Tim O’Brien grew up singing in church and in school. After seeing Doc Watson on TV, he became a lifelong devotee of old time and bluegrass music. Tim started touring nationally in 1978 with Colorado bluegrass band Hot Rize. His songs “Walk the Way the Wind Blows” and “Untold Stories” were bluegrass hits for Hot Rize, and country hits for Kathy Mattea. Soon more artists like Nickel Creek, Garth Brooks, and The Dixie Chicks covered his songs. Over the years, Tim has collaborated with his sister Mollie O’Brien, songwriter Darrell Scott, and noted old-time musician Dirk Powell, as well as with Steve Earle, Mark Knopfler, Dan Auerbach and Sturgill Simpson.
Living in Nashville since 1996, O’Brien’s skills on guitar, mandolin, fiddle, and banjo make him an in-demand session player. He tours throughout the US and abroad, most often with his wife Jan Fabricius on mandolin and vocals. A voracious reader who loves to cook, he has two sons, Jackson (born 1982) and Joel (born 1990). The International Bluegrass Music Association awarded him song of the year in 2006 and named him best male vocalist in 1993 and 2006. He was inducted into the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame in 2013 and into the Colorado Music Hall of Fame in 2022.
O’Brien’s latest release, 2021’s “He Walked On”, weaves historical and socially conscious themes through songs about ordinary and not so ordinary people just trying to “keep it between the ditches”. Other notable O’Brien recordings include the bluegrass Dylan covers of “Red on Blonde”, the Celtic-Appalachian fusion of “The Crossing”, and the Grammy winning folk of “Fiddler’s Green”. His duet recording “Real Time” with Darrell Scott is a cult favorite, and he won a bluegrass Grammy as part of “The Earls of Leicester”. His 2017 release “Where the River Meets the Road” paid tribute to the music of his native West Virginia. A new release of original material “Cup of Sugar” drops June 16, 2023.

Cup Of Sugar-Tim O'Brien
Howdy Skies Records 2023
Produced by Tim O'Brien
Recorded and mixed by Sean Sullivan
with the help from Mark Howard
at Cowboy Arms, The Tractor Shed,
and at home in Nashville, TN.
Mastered by Independent


Tour dates and more can be found at www.timobrien.net

Management: Brad Hunt
The WNS Group
895 County Line Road
Lyndonville, NY 14098
Phone: 585-765-2083
Cell: 845-893-4303
Email: bhsabres@aol.com

Publicist:
Propeller Publicity
Angie Carlson
angie@propellerpublicity.com

Howdy Skies Records
Jan Fabricius - Office and Tour Manager
jan@timobrien.net