Dan Tyminski is a guitarist, mandolinist, and singer from Vermont. He joined Alison Krauss and Union Station in 1992 and held the guitar and lead vocal chair for more than three decades. He has won 14 Grammy Awards and four IBMA Male Vocalist of the Year awards. His voice on I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow in the film O Brother, Where Art Thou? brought bluegrass to a new audience in 2000.
Why Tyminski matters
Tyminski proved that a rhythm guitarist who sings lead can anchor the most decorated band in bluegrass. Union Station built its sound on Krauss’s fiddle and voice, Jerry Douglas’s dobro, and Tyminski’s guitar and tenor. His playing kept that band in time for 30 years. His singing took one old song, Man of Constant Sorrow, and made it the tune every jam now knows.
Life and career
Tyminski was born on June 20, 1967, in Rutland, Vermont. He started on a mandolin his older brother left behind at age six. He played banjo from age 12 to 21 and joined a band called the Green Mountain Boys at about 15.
He joined the Lonesome River Band in 1988 and stayed until 1992. That year Alison Krauss hired him for Union Station. For 12 years he lived in Ferrum, Virginia, and commuted to Nashville for the job. With Union Station he recorded So Long So Wrong, New Favorite, Live, Lonely Runs Both Ways, and Paper Airplane (2011). Each won Grammys.
In 2000 he sang the lead on I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow for the Soggy Bottom Boys, the fictional band in O Brother, Where Art Thou? George Clooney’s character mouthed the words. The track won the CMA Single of the Year, the IBMA Song of the Year, and a Grammy for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals. The soundtrack won the Grammy for Album of the Year in 2002.
Tyminski released Carry Me Across the Mountain (Doobie Shea, 2000) and Wheels (Rounder, 2008), which won IBMA Album of the Year in 2009. In 2013 he sang lead on Hey Brother by the Swedish producer Avicii. The song reached the top five in more than 15 countries and passed one billion Spotify streams in 2024. His later solo records are Southern Gothic (Mercury Nashville, 2017) and God Fearing Heathen (8 Track Entertainment, 2023). In December 2024 Krauss announced that Russell Moore would take the guitar chair in Union Station for the 2025 album Arcadia and its tour.
Playing style
Tyminski plays rhythm guitar with a heavy right hand and a firm downstroke. In Union Station, a band built around a fiddle and a dobro, the guitar carries much of the drive. He hits the bass note, lets the chord ring, and marks the end of a line with a short G-run or a walk to the next chord. His breaks are short and stay close to the melody.
The guitar and the voice work as one unit. He sings a strong, straight tenor, and he keeps the words on the beat the guitar sets. On Man of Constant Sorrow the whole arrangement sits on his guitar and his lead vocal. Every other part fits around them.
He plays a 1946 Martin D-28. In 2009 Martin issued a Dan Tyminski signature D-28 in its Custom Artist Series.
Influences and legacy
Tyminski came up through the Lonesome River Band and then spent three decades beside Alison Krauss and Jerry Douglas. He also recorded with Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Reba McEntire, and Brad Paisley.
His O Brother performance shaped how a generation of pickers heard bluegrass singing. Russell Moore took over his Union Station chair in 2025 and calls himself a Tyminski fan. Tyminski co-hosted the IBMA awards in 2022.
Signature tunes and songs
Man of Constant Sorrow Hey Brother Carry Me Across the Mountain Wheels.
Essential recordings
O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack (2000) Carry Me Across the Mountain (Doobie Shea, 2000) Wheels (Rounder, 2008) Paper Airplane, with Alison Krauss and Union Station (2011)
Awards and honors
Grammy Award, Best Bluegrass Album, So Long So Wrong (1998) Grammy Award, Best Country Instrumental Performance, Little Liza Jane (1998) Grammy Award, Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals, Looking in the Eyes of Love (1998) IBMA Gospel Recorded Performance of the Year, Stanley Gospel Tradition: Songs About Our Savior (1998) IBMA Male Vocalist of the Year (2001, 2002, 2003, 2009) IBMA Song of the Year, I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow (2001) IBMA Instrumental Recorded Performance of the Year, Knee-Deep in Bluegrass: The AcuTab Sessions (2001) CMA Single of the Year, I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow (2001) Grammy Award, Album of the Year, O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack (2002) Grammy Award, Best Country Collaboration with Vocals, I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow (2002) Grammy Award, Best Bluegrass Album, New Favorite (2002) Grammy Award, Best Country Instrumental Performance, Choctaw Hayride (2002) Grammy Award, Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals, The Lucky One (2002) IBMA Album of the Year, Down From the Mountain (2002) Grammy Award, Best Bluegrass Album, Live (2004) Grammy Award, Best Country Instrumental Performance, Cluck Old Hen (2004) Grammy Award, Best Country Album, Lonely Runs Both Ways (2006) Grammy Award, Best Country Instrumental Performance, Unionhouse Branch (2006) Grammy Award, Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals, Restless (2006) IBMA Album of the Year, Celebration of Life: Musicians Against Childhood Cancer (2006) IBMA Album of the Year, Wheels (2009) Grammy Award, Best Bluegrass Album, Paper Airplane (2012) IBMA Instrumental Recorded Performance of the Year, Foggy Mountain Rock (2013)
Watch and listen
Tyminski sings Man of Constant Sorrow with Alison Krauss and Union Station. Watch his right hand drive the band through the whole song.
Tyminski plays the same song in a stripped-down session. Listen to how the guitar and voice lock together with less around them.
What to learn from Tyminski
Learn Man of Constant Sorrow in the Soggy Bottom Boys arrangement. It uses three chords and one riff, so the hard part is not the notes. The hard part is singing on the beat while the guitar holds time. The technique to steal is his downstroke. Play the song with a heavy pick and hit every bass note with a full downstroke. Keep the strum light and let the bass carry the drive. That balance is what makes a band feel solid when the guitar is the main rhythm instrument.
Sources
Dan Tyminski, IBMA award recipients Dan Tyminski, Grammy.com Dan Tyminski, Grand Ole Opry Dan Tyminski, The Music Museum of New England Singer Russell Moore takes Tyme Out to tour with Alison Krauss, WMOT Not easy shoes to fill: Russell Moore gets the gig of a lifetime, The Bluegrass Situation Dan Tyminski, Wikipedia
Related players
See the guitar players hub and the guitar guide for more rhythm players. Tyminski played beside Alison Krauss for three decades. Russell Moore now holds his Union Station chair. Dudley Connell and Junior Sisk lead bands from the same guitar-and-lead-vocal role.