Tim O’Brien (born 1954) is a singer and songwriter from Wheeling, West Virginia, who has played fiddle on stage for five decades. He took up the instrument as a teenager after watching Merle Haggard play a medley of Bob Wills tunes. In Colorado he played twin fiddle in the Ophelia Swing Band, then played fiddle and mandolin and sang lead in Hot Rize, IBMA’s first Entertainer of the Year in 1990. His mandolin side has its own page.
Why O’Brien matters
O’Brien sings lead while he fiddles, so his fiddle has to leave room for his own voice. That makes him a model for any fiddler who wants to front a band as well as take breaks. His fiddle also covers a wide range: western swing in his first Colorado band, bluegrass in Hot Rize, Irish and Appalachian tunes on The Crossing, and old-time tunes on the Grammy-winning Fiddler’s Green.
Life and career
O’Brien was born on March 16, 1954, and grew up in Wheeling, West Virginia. He taught himself guitar, violin, and mandolin in his teens. Merle Haggard pushed him toward the fiddle: seeing Haggard play a Bob Wills medley made him want to take it up.
In 1973 he left Colby College and headed west. He told the Bluegrass Situation he hoped to support himself playing guitar and “a little bit of fiddle,” and that he was still learning. In Boulder, Colorado, he joined the Ophelia Swing Band, fronted by Dan Sadowsky, for about three years. The band played 1930s and 1940s swing with strings. O’Brien and the band’s other violinist, Linda Joseph, worked up twin fiddle parts in a western swing style. He recorded Swing Tunes of the 30’s and 40’s with the band in 1977.
In 1978 he formed Hot Rize with banjo player Pete Wernick, Charles Sawtelle, and guitarist Mike Scap, and Nick Forster soon joined on bass. O’Brien played mandolin and fiddle and sang lead. The band also played sets as a western swing act, Red Knuckles and the Trailblazers, with O’Brien in the role of Red. Hot Rize won the first IBMA Entertainer of the Year award in 1990.
As a solo artist he kept the fiddle close. The Crossing (1999) was an album of Irish-influenced folk music, and he dedicated it to Sawtelle. Fiddler’s Green (2005) mixed old-time tunes with originals and classic country songs and won the Grammy for Best Traditional Folk Album. Concert videos from 2010 and 2012 show him playing reels on the fiddle and singing over his own fiddle.
Playing style
O’Brien’s fiddle grew from two sources. The first is western swing, from the Haggard medley that inspired him and the twin fiddle parts he played in the Ophelia Swing Band. The second is the dance tune repertoire of old-time and Irish music, which fills The Crossing and Fiddler’s Green and his live sets of reels.
He also sings and fiddles at the same time, as in his solo Wayfaring Stranger. A fiddler who sings has to keep the bow simple under the voice, and that kind of song shows how little a fiddle needs to play to carry a tune.
Influences and legacy
O’Brien came to the fiddle through Merle Haggard and the Bob Wills repertoire Haggard played. In the Ophelia Swing Band he played twin fiddle with Linda Joseph. In Hot Rize he stood beside Pete Wernick, Charles Sawtelle, and later Bryan Sutton.
In the Earls of Leicester, the Flatt and Scruggs tribute band that won a Grammy for its 2014 debut, O’Brien played mandolin and left the fiddle to Johnny Warren, son of Foggy Mountain Boys fiddler Paul Warren.
Essential recordings
Swing Tunes of the 30’s and 40’s, Ophelia Swing Band (1977) Hot Rize, Hot Rize (1979) The Crossing (1999) Fiddler’s Green (Sugar Hill, 2005)
Awards and honors
IBMA Entertainer of the Year, with Hot Rize (1990) IBMA Male Vocalist of the Year (1993) Grammy Award, Best Traditional Folk Album, Fiddler’s Green (48th Grammy Awards) West Virginia Music Hall of Fame (2013) Grammy Award, Best Bluegrass Album, The Earls of Leicester (57th Grammy Awards) International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame, with Hot Rize (2025)
Watch and listen
O’Brien plays a set of traditional reels on fiddle at the Rice Festival in Fischer, Texas, in November 2010.
O’Brien plays fiddle and sings Wayfaring Stranger at an East Tennessee State University seminar in 2012. Listen to how he balances the fiddle against his voice.
What to learn from O’Brien
Learn Wayfaring Stranger and sing it over your own fiddle. Start with long bows on the chord tones while you sing each line. Then play the melody, or a short fill, in the gap before the next line. The technique to steal is that split: support the voice, then answer it. Most fiddlers practice breaks. O’Brien shows that singing and bowing at the same time is a skill you can build too, and it lets one player carry a whole song.
Sources
Tim O’Brien (musician), Wikipedia Hot Rize, Wikipedia Tim O’Brien: Time After Time, No Depression Tim O’Brien recalls the origins of Hot Rize, the Bluegrass Situation Tim O’Brien, Grammy Awards Recipients and inductees by year, IBMA
Related players
See the fiddle players hub and the fiddle guide for more fiddlers. Johnny Warren fiddled beside him in the Earls of Leicester. Sam Bush and Ricky Skaggs are two more mandolin stars who play fiddle at a high level. O’Brien’s mandolin work is on his mandolin page.