Tim O'Brien - Cup of Sugar - VINYL LP

Tim OBrien might operate a bit under music business radar, but he's been an essential part of the fabric of the folk, bluegrass, Americana, and songwriter scenes for the past fifty years. Since his emergence as singer, instrumentalist, and songwriter with the iconic 1980s bluegrass group Hot Rize, the West Virginia native has continued down a diverse and constantly evolving musical pathway. In the process he's written songs for people like Garth Brooks and the Dixie Chicks, released rootsy classics like Red on Blonde and The Crossing, and earned a few Grammy awards.  For the past ten years, OBrien has performed primarily with his wife Jan Fabricius, and their new Paper Flowers is tangible proof of that deep collaboration.As OBrien explains, their partnership started informally. Jan started adding harmony vocals to shows and recordings soon after we became a couple in 2013. We would play music around the house, and she would learn new songs as I wrote them. Then soon enough we started writing together.  When Cathy Fink and Jon Weisberger approached OBrien in 2023 to contribute to what became 2024s Bluegrass Sings Paxton, Tim and Jan wrote You Took Me In  with the man himself. Encouraged by the results, the three scheduled weekly Zoom co-writing sessions and the songs kept coming.  Paper Flowers includes twelve of those songs as well as three more originals, 2 of which Jan and Tim wrote together and one that Tim wrote.Recorded at Cowboy Arms and the Tractor Shed in Nashville with help from longtime collaborators like bassists Mike Bub and Edgar Meyer, fiddler Shad Cobb, keyboard ace Mike Rojas and drummer Larry Atamanuik, the result is a story-in-song of the couples life together. OBrien says, Wed been carving out our duet stage identity for years and now we had a body of our own songs. It was time to make this record.The mood on Paper Flowers ranges from the breezy s

John Rossiter (Young Jesus) had quit music to study permaculture and to work in landscapes and gardens. His last album, Shepherd Head, was too much time spent on the computer. Working with soil and plants gave him some life back. He said, InchYou know, when gardening, the right decision to make for the landscape is usually the one that is already happening. It just takes time to read what that is.Inch So, John left the orchard to meet Shahzad Ismaily (Feist, Lou Reed, Arooj Aftab) for lunch. They instantly bonded, talking about improvisation, rhythm, the heart. On a lark, Shahzad invited John to New York. Songs started to form, songs about shame and grief, love and redemption. They came fast, a song a day for two weeks. It was different from past albums, which felt like years of hammering out lyrics and ideas. This one came in the wake of a long illness, where tunes came in a rush, as if they were physical, as if the body couldn't heal without them. An almost involuntary outpouring, overrunning his usual self-consciousness. Rossiter had to sit and transcribe without judgment let the ideas grow on their own. Shahzad was in LA one day when John sat down at the piano and played them for him. They decided to record them at Shahzad's Figure 8 Studios in Brooklyn - these songs would blossom into Young Jesus' forthcoming album, The Fool. Inner landscaping requires presence and bravery. It can get pretty dark and strange the deeper you walk into that jungle. And it's from the absolute pits of that inner landscape that the truest music rises from. At the end of the last session, Rossiter and Alex Lappin sat down and drew tarot cards. John drew The Fool.

Nickelback's multi-platinum 2008 album. Features the singles Burn It To The Ground, Gotta Be Somebody, and If Today Was Your Last Day. 2017 re-