Today in Wheeling History: March 16—Tim O'Brien, Grammy Award-winning bluegrass musician and founding member of Hot Rize, was born in Wheeling (1954).
Tim O'Brien, born March 16, 1954, in Wheeling, West Virginia, is an acclaimed bluegrass and country musician who began his musical journey in his hometown. As the youngest of five children, O'Brien developed an early interest in music after hearing Bob Dylan at age 12. During his high school years in Wheeling, he taught himself guitar, violin, and mandolin, and began performing folk music with his sister Mollie at local coffeehouses and church events.
After briefly attending Colby College, O'Brien left in 1973 to pursue music professionally, eventually settling in Boulder, Colorado, where he co-founded the innovative bluegrass band Hot Rize in 1978. The group, which also performed as their alter ego "Red Knuckles and the Trailblazers," won the International Bluegrass Music Association's first Entertainer of the Year award in 1990.
O'Brien's multifaceted career includes over 30 albums, Grammy recognition for "Fiddler's Green" (2005), IBMA Male Vocalist of the Year honors (1993, 2006), and songwriting credits for artists like Kathy Mattea and Garth Brooks. In 2006, he was inducted into the Wheeling Hall of Fame, and in 2013, entered the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame.
Though left-handed by nature, O'Brien plays all instruments right-handed and is proficient on guitar, fiddle, mandolin, banjo, bouzouki, and mandocello.
To learn more: Ohio County Public Library Archives, Wheeling WV (https://tinyurl.com/bdh9f4at) (https://tinyurl.com/yrc3wkz7), Wikipedia (https://tinyurl.com/268syjen)
Photo credits: Ohio County Public Library Archives, Wheeling WV; Wikimedia Commons
Tim O'Brien, born March 16, 1954, in Wheeling, West Virginia, is an acclaimed bluegrass and country musician who began his musical journey in his hometown. As the youngest of five children, O'Brien developed an early interest in music after hearing Bob Dylan at age 12. During his high school years in Wheeling, he taught himself guitar, violin, and mandolin, and began performing folk music with his sister Mollie at local coffeehouses and church events.
After briefly attending Colby College, O'Brien left in 1973 to pursue music professionally, eventually settling in Boulder, Colorado, where he co-founded the innovative bluegrass band Hot Rize in 1978. The group, which also performed as their alter ego "Red Knuckles and the Trailblazers," won the International Bluegrass Music Association's first Entertainer of the Year award in 1990.
O'Brien's multifaceted career includes over 30 albums, Grammy recognition for "Fiddler's Green" (2005), IBMA Male Vocalist of the Year honors (1993, 2006), and songwriting credits for artists like Kathy Mattea and Garth Brooks. In 2006, he was inducted into the Wheeling Hall of Fame, and in 2013, entered the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame.
Though left-handed by nature, O'Brien plays all instruments right-handed and is proficient on guitar, fiddle, mandolin, banjo, bouzouki, and mandocello.
To learn more: Ohio County Public Library Archives, Wheeling WV (https://tinyurl.com/bdh9f4at) (https://tinyurl.com/yrc3wkz7), Wikipedia (https://tinyurl.com/268syjen)
Photo credits: Ohio County Public Library Archives, Wheeling WV; Wikimedia Commons
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