Heading into June, the heart of festival season, I’ve been thinking about some of the pioneers of the progressive bluegrass movement. Robbie Fulks’ excellent new record contributed to that reminisce, as did the arrival of the latest album from Nashvillian, by way of Colorado and West Virginia, Tim O’Brien. It’s called Cup of Sugar and it bears all the hallmarks of his stellar talent and unequaled career. It’s his 19th solo record and if you count his various collaborative efforts and the Hot Rize catalog, it’s number 38.
As you might expect, it’s a combination of bluegrass and folk music with O’Brien’s homespun take on various topics. Shout Lulu is an old-timey banjo piece about a border collie who inherited a fortune from a white nationalist owner and what she did to the infamous statue he had built. Diddleye Day is a joyous bluegrass dance number full of gratuitous rhymes such as, “I like cornbread, I like beans, I like hangin’ in the bluegrass scene.” Let the Horses Run is a euphemism for knowing when to set down your tools and enjoy the day, and features Del McCoury on guitar and vocals.
If there’s a theme to the album, it’s the wisdom of growing old, not letting the small stuff bother you, and making the most of the time you have. Bear, conceived when Putin was escalating the situation with Ukraine, is an observation about how change is harder as you get older, or when it comes too fast. The Pay’s a Lot Better Too has a little jazzy piano to support the importance of appreciating what you have. The Anchor takes a look at today’s polarizing news environment from the perspective of Walter Cronkite. The title track pulls it all together with a folk song reminding us that you don’t have to love your neighbor to treat him like one.
Hot Rize’s Radio Boogie was a revelation for me when it came out back in the day. Whether with that seminal band, on his own, collaborating with Darrell Scott or his sister Molly, or mentoring young musicians, Tim O’Brien is a pillar of the Americana music community. Cup of Sugar is just one more example of why that’s so true.
About the author: I've actually driven from Tehatchapee to Tonopah. And I've seen Dallas from a DC-9 at night.