Tim O'Brien in Twickenham: Sunday 23rd

Subject: RE: Tim O'Brien in Twickenham: Sunday 23rd
From: peregrina
Date: 22 Nov 08 - 11:50 AM

Yes, he was great in York. Talking to people there, it was really interesting how many people loved the gig who hadn't been familiar with Tim's music before.

Subject: RE: Tim O'Brien in Twickenham: Sunday 23rd
From: evansakes
Date: 22 Nov 08 - 11:38 AM

Last call for this one!

Subject: RE: Tim O'Brien in Twickenham: Sunday 23rd
From: Linda Kelly
Date: 18 Nov 08 - 03:33 PM

Saw him in York he is truly amazing.

Subject: Tim O'Brien in Twickenham: Sunday 23rd
From: evansakes
Date: 18 Nov 08 - 04:59 AM

Plenty of tickets left now that we've moved the gig from the small downstairs room to the luxury penthouse suite!

TwickFolk
at THE CABBAGE PATCH PUB
67 London Road
TWICKENHAM
Middlesex TW1 3SZ

Sundays at 8 PM

My Space http://www.MySpace.com/TwickFolk
Advance Tickets http://www.wegottickets.com/location/466
Website http://www.TwickenhamFolkClub.com

Nov 23rd TIM O'BRIEN + The Toy Hearts £12/£14 door

Probably little introduction required here! Nevertheless here goes...

Grammy Award-winning Tim O'Brien is one of the spearheads of contemporary bluegrass. As co-founder and lead vocalist of Hot Rize and Red Knuckles & the Trailblazers, O'Brien served as a bridge between the traditional sounds of the hill country and the modern styles of bluegrass in the 1980s. Since the band's breakup, O'Brien has continued to expand the music's borders as a soloist, a duo partner with his sister Mollie, and with his band, the O'Boys. O'Brien's songs have additionally been recorded by Kathy Mattea, the Seldom Scene, New Grass Revival, and the Johnson Mountain Boys.

Acquiring his first guitar at the age of 12, O'Brien took to the instrument almost immediately. Although he played with numerous high-school rock bands, O'Brien was steered toward country music and bluegrass by Roger Bland, a banjo-playing patient of a girlfriend's psychiatrist father. A former member of Lester Flatt's band, Bland taught O'Brien to play in the three-finger style of Earl Scruggs. O'Brien had earlier discovered that his father had played mandolin banjo in college, and although his father no longer played the instrument, O'Brien bought new strings and learned a few rudimentary techniques. While attending Colby College in Maine, O'Brien also began to play mandolin.

Leaving college he headed West. Before long, he hooked up temporarily with a jug band, Ophelia's String Band. Meeting future Hot Rize bandmates Pete Wernick and Charles Sawtelle, O'Brien formed a bluegrass band, the Drifting Ramblers. Nick Forster, a guitar repairman at the Denver Folklore Center, soon joined the group as well. Assembling a new group to help promote the solo recordings, O'Brien, Wernick, Sawtelle, and Forster launched Hot Rize who remained together for 12 years. Although their initial sound was very traditional, Hot Rize continued to evolve in a more progressive direction.

In addition to his work with those aforementioned bands, O'Brien joined with his sister, Mollie, and the two have since collaborated on several albums. Around this time he also started to gain recognition as a songwriter and went on to sign with bluegrass label Sugar Hill. The O'Boys were formed to help promote the solo album, Odd Man In, in 1991. O'Brien continued releasing solo material through the '90s and into the following decade, including an album of Bob Dylan covers (Red on Blonde), the Grammy-winning Fiddler's Green, and the intimate, stripped-down Chameleon.

http://www.myspace.com/timobrienmusic

Tonight we're also delighted to swiftly welcome back Hannah and Sophie Johnson from The Toy Hearts who did a great show for us as recently as late July. With their guitar, mandolin and sibling harmonies they recall the classic era of the great sister duos eg The Louvin Sisters, The Delmore Sisters and of course The Everly Sisters (Philippa and Donna)

http://www.myspace.com/thetoyhearts