Timothy O'Brien (born March 16, 1954) is an American country and bluegrass musician. In addition to singing, he plays guitar, fiddle, mandolin, banjo, bouzouki and mandocello. He has released more than ten studio albums, in addition to charting a duet with Kathy Mattea entitled "The Battle Hymn of Love", a No. 9 hit on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs) charts in 1990. In November 2013 he was inducted into the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame.
Early life
Tim O'Brien was born on March 16, 1954, and raised in Wheeling, West Virginia, the youngest in a family of five children. At the age of 12, he first heard a Bob Dylan record, played by his older sister Mollie, afterwards deciding to take up music. Throughout his teens, he taught himself to play guitar, violin, and mandolin.
In high school, he and his sister Mollie, a singer, began performing Peter, Paul, and Mary songs as a duo at church and local coffeehouses. The band would walk off stage, change clothes, and reappear as a different band (O'Brien assumed the role of "Red Knuckles"), with its own songs, fictional back story and humorous costumes. Hot Rize was the International Bluegrass Music Association's first Entertainer of the Year in 1990, and in 1993, O'Brien took the IBMA's Male Vocalist of the Year honors.
In 1990, Hot Rize disbanded as a regular touring and recording band. However, after the death of guitarist Charles Sawtelle, in 2002 Hot Rize was joined by award winning guitarist Bryan Sutton and the band began to once again play limited engagements.
Duets with Mollie O'Brien
In 1984, O'Brien and his sister Mollie O'Brien reunited for a Mother's Day concert, and four years later recorded the duet album Take Me Back.
In 2010, O'Brien featured prominently on Kris Drever's second solo album, Mark the Hard Earth. He also produced at least one instructional video/DVD of mandolin and bouzouki instruments.
O'Brien joined Mark Knopfler in his Get Lucky Tour between April 8, 2010 and July 31, 2010.
In 2024, O'Brien recorded a duet with Bonnie "Prince" Billie for the latter's album The Purple Bird. The song, "Our Home" was released as a single in advance of the album release.
Howdy Skies Records
O'Brien started his own record label, Howdy Skies Records, in 1999.