Tim O'brien's Fiddler's green

Contemporary bluegrass music today is often stereotyped as being more of the same thing. Unfortunately Tim O’brien’s third album Fiddler’s Green does nothing to change that stereotype. It does however give bluegrass enthusiasts that reliable “same old thing” in a thickly layered, twelve-song tribute to all things bluegrass; drinking, traveling, murder, love and sorrow. Released in 2005 on Howdy Skies records Fiddler’s Green is a mix of O’brien’s genius song writing, and traditional arrangements. The opening track “Pretty Fair Maid in the Garden,” breathes new life into a traditional tune about a soldier gone for several years who finally returns to find his love who has been waiting for him for several years. Later in the album we are graced by “Long Black Veil,” the traditional song come folk favorite thanks to the Band’s 1968 debut album, Music From Big Pink. The title track, “Fiddler’s Green,” written by songwriter Pete Goble, is an ode to, according to the CD booklet, “A mythical place where old sailors go when they die.” Throughout the song a man searches for his fiddler’s green in this word, to no avail, and at the end warns, “Go marry your young girl, raise corn and your beans/ don’t waste your young manhood on fiddler's green.” Throughout the album O’Brien plays mandolin, guitar, fiddle and bouzouki and incorporates guests from bluegrass legends Stuart Duncan, Jerry Douglas and Edgar Meyer to the young Chris Thile who lacks legend status only because of his youth. The high point of the album comes in the form Peter Rowan’s classic melody, “Land’s End.” Featuring a djembe, fiddle, bass, low whistle and Mr. O’Brien on the mandolin, “Land’s End” offers a great new take on a classic instrumental that’s sure to please bluegrass addicts and introductory listeners alike. If ships were still the primary method of transport, and if whiskey was still the only thing to drink then Tim O’Brien would surely be a household name. Sadly he’ll have to remain a folk/bluegrass hero to those who have been lucky enough to hear him.