Traveler Tim O'Brien

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CD

  • Release Date: 08/12/2003
  • Sales Rank: 69,135
  • Label: SUGARHILL
  • UPC: 015891397825

Listener Rating: (1 ratings)

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  • Overview
  • Tracks
  • Editorial Reviews
  • Customer Reviews
  • Details & Credits
Track List
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Traveler

1LISTENKelly Joe's Shoes 3:33
2LISTENI've Endured 3:29
3LISTENTurn the Page Again 3:43
4LISTENLet Love Take You Back Again 4:21
5LISTENRestless Spirit Wandering 5:03
6LISTENAnother Day 4:20
7LISTENOn the Outside Looking In 4:07
8LISTENForty-Nine Keep on Talkin' 3:27
9LISTENFamily History 4:29
10LISTENFell into Her Deep Blue Eyes 5:05
11LISTENTravelers 4:39
12LISTENLess & Less 3:25

About this Artist

Editorial Reviews

Traveler arrives like some horseman from the dusty past. His news is blunt, if not apocalyptic, with warnings that the future promises only "rotting flesh and broken bone." His chaps are stained with blood shed during the Civil War, and the trail he's followed from then until now runs alongside the Mississippi before melting into "a road without end" that winds back toward where our memories began. O'Brien lays all this out with help from some impressive players, but even the often incendiary Béla Fleck joins with them in toning down the fireworks and creating evocative settings through the most minimal gestures -- a slow-motion guitar arpeggio, a keening fiddle, a note here or there to complement O'Brien's relaxed delivery. It's significant, perhaps, that the album opens with "Kelly Joe's Shoes," an ode to a pair of beat-up sneakers that gave O'Brien some pretty good mileage, and ends with "Less & Less," which celebrates the joys of moving through life with as little baggage as possible. From music through message, Traveler just about gets it right. Robert Doerschuk, All Music Guide

Customer Reviews

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  • Ratings: 1Reviews: 1

Travelerby Anonymous

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October 07, 2003: Playing Time - 49:46 Tim O'Brien has done some traveling in his days, and this album contains a nice collection of eclectic material inspired by his many journeys. Originally from West Virginia, O'Brien now calls Nashville his home. Along the way, he's picked with The Hutchinson Brothers, The Ophelia String Band, Hot Rize (1979-1990), his own group The O'Boys, in a duo with his sister Mollie, The Flattheads, and New Grange. This solo album, with many excellent accompanists, has a couple key strengths besides O'Brien's mandolin, guitar, bouzouki and singing. I've always been a big fan of O'Brien's eclectic and unique Americana sound that incorporates elements of bluegrass, folk, old-time, country and Cajun music. He once described his musical style as "weirdcountry, electro-acoustic, folk-beat, walkin-the-line between-several-genres acoustic music that rocks a bit, but you understand the words." On this project, the tasteful flavorings of Dirk Powell's accordion and Ray Bonneville's harmonica provide an especially nice coloring. Other standout and noteworthy instrumental work comes from Casey Driessen (fiddle), Bela Fleck (banjo on "Another Day"), Jerry Douglas (lap steel or resophonic guitar on two cuts). Percussionist Kenny Malone and bassist Dirk Powell are also rock solid in laying down a rhythmic groove throughout. O'Brien, the singer/songwriter, contributed or collaborated on eleven of the twelve songs on Traveler. Only "I've Endured" (by David Arthur Reed and Ola Belle Reed) is a cover. His songsmith collaborators include Lucas Reynolds ("Turn the Page Again"), Darrell Scott ("Another Day"), Ray Bonneville ("Forty-Nine Keep on Talkin'"), Allesandro Massa ("Travelers"). O'Brien's partnership with Darrell Scott has been fruitful during recent years, and in 2000, they toured and released an instrumental Grammy-nominated album, "The Second Mouse." With recorded hits by Kathy Mattea, Hal Ketchum, Garth Brooks and others, it's clear that this artist follows a strong and inspirational lyrical and melodic muse. All lyrics are included in the CD's jacket. Read 'em, pay attention to 'em, because O'Brien's got some profound things to say. As he sings, "we are but travelers on a road without end," let's hope that he'll find those signs that he is searching for. (Joe Ross, staff writer, Bluegrass Now)