Tim O'Brien and Jan Fabricius & Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy

Doors 7PM/Show 8PM

Bluegrass perennial Tim O’Brien and his wife and musical partner Jan Fabricius share the stage with indie favorite Bonnie Prince Billy. New releases from Tim and Jan – “Paper Flowers” – and from the Bonnie Prince – “Purple Bird” – are packed with quirky and insightful songs. Tim co-wrote and shared lead vocals on Bonnie Prince Billy’s single/video “Our Home”, and the three will perform together for part of the concert.

Tim O’Brien and his wife Jan Fabricius have performed together nationally and internationally since 2015. The original songs on their new release Paper Flowers offer tangible proof of a deep collaboration, and serve as a narrative of the couple’s life together.

Tim O’Brien might operate a bit under music business radar, but he’s been an essential part of the fabric of the folk, bluegrass, and Americana scenes for the past fifty years. Since his emergence as singer, instrumentalist, and songwriter with the iconic 1980’s 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.

A registered nurse from Kansas, Fabricius started dating O’Brien in 2011. After moving to Nashville in 2013, she took a crash course in the music business as tour manager. O’Brien describes their musical evolution, “Jan started adding harmony vocals and mandolin to shows and recordings soon after we became a couple. We would play music around the house, and she would learn new songs as I wrote them. Then soon enough we started writing together.” O’Brien’s two most recent releases, He Walked On and Cup of Sugar include songs cowritten with Fabricius.

When Cathy Fink and Jon Weisberger approached O’Brien in 2023 to contribute to what became 2024’s Bluegrass Sings Paxton, Tim and Jan wrote the song 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.

Tim and Jan perform as duo and in a band setting with bassist Mike Bub and fiddler Shad Cobb. Both live in the studio, they present an acoustic music roots repertoire that’s at once both original and traditional.

Joseph Will Oldham is an American singer-songwriter and actor. In 1998 he adopted Bonnie “Prince” Billy as the name for most of his work. Some of his albums, such as There Is No-One What Will Take Care of You (1993), Viva Last Blues (1995), and I See a Darkness (1999), have appeared on greatest albums lists.

Oldham is known for his “do-it-yourself punk aesthetic and blunt honesty”, and his music has been likened to Americana, folk, roots, country, punk, and indie rock. He has been called an “Appalachian post-punk solipsist”, with a voice that has been described as “a fragile sort-of warble frittering around haunted melodies in the American folk or country tradition.”

Johnny Cash recorded a version of “I See a Darkness” on his American Recordings disc American III: Solitary Man (2000). Oldham provided backing vocals. Spanish singer Rosalía also recorded a version of “I See a Darkness” for her debut album Los Ángeles. Marianne Faithfull included Oldham’s “A King at Night” on her 2003 Kissin Time tour. Steve Adey also covered “I See a Darkness” on his 2006 LP All Things Real. Mark Kozelek recorded a version of Oldham’s “New Partner” on his 2008 disc, The Finally LP. In 2011, Deer Tick’s cover of Oldham’s song “Death to Everyone” appeared in an episode of Hell On Wheels.

Oldham has appeared in dozens of films, including the lead role in 2006’s Old Joy, as well as 2011’s Pioneer, And 2017’s A Ghost Story.

Host or Publisher Swallow Hill Music