The dan tyminski band

[Ivan Kelsall]

Dan Tyminski seems to be having a highly deserved success
with his band to judge by some of the posts i've read on the 'Cafe. Is this band just something to do until AKUS reforms,or is it going to be a permanent band line up & an aside to Dan's role in AKUS ?.IMHO,Dan Tyminski is one of the finest singers in Bluegrass music today.not to mention the fact that he's also an incredible musician. Again,IMHO,
AKUS as a band have run out of steam as far as 'Bluegrass' music goes. The last CD i bought of theirs 'Lonely Runs Both Ways' only had 3 tunes on it that could be called Bluegrass,the rest of it was the sort of stuff that Alison Krauss seems to prefer. I've no problem with that at all,she has to make a living,& if her music sells - which it does - fine,just don't give it a Bluegrass label.
I truly wish that AKUS would get back to their roots in Bluegrass.They have a sensational line up & if Adam Steffey re-joined,i'd buy every CD they made,
Saska

[Mattg]

I hope AKUS performs. I agree with the Steffey comment. I 've alway felt that AKUS could use more mandolin. I gotta have more mandolin.

[David Newton]

Alison should do more sad songs...

[Rick Schmidlin]

Alison should do more sad songs...

She does with Robert Plant, I wonder what her husband thinks?

[Tim]

She's playing music she likes and selling lots of CDs. She should change that business model.

[45ACP-GDLF5]

Alison should do more sad songs...

She does with Robert Plant, I wonder what her husband thinks?

Alison isn't married anymore!

[Crowder]

I was expecting to LOVE the Tyminski band stuff, but it just doesn't hit me for some reason.

IMHO there is a certain formula to a lot of the bluegrass songs he chooses/writes, even going back to some he's cut with AKUS. You know that thing in the verses where the whole band hits the IV or the II on the way to another chord, to accent the vocal line? Then there's that extra bar or so of banjo roll between each vocal line? Mountain Heart does it a lot as well. It's cool, but it gets old pretty quick. I'd like to hear them just grab a straightforward song and mash the heck out of it.

Just my two cents....and back on topic, I doubt the DTB has anywhere near the earning potential of AKUS, so I expect it will remain a side project.

[Ted Lehmann]

The Dan Tyminski Band features some of the very best pickers in all bluegrass brought together for this tour, and maybe more. Their performance at Jenny Brook was nothing less than great. Nevertheless, my question is whether the Dan band distinguishes itself with some sort of Value Added. For a band to rise above being technically excellent and performing traditional bluegrass with great skill, it must add something to the music. When a band kicks off, do the first three of four notes say to you, "That's the ...... Band"? I think that's the major criterion that sets the great bands apart from those that are just excellent representatives. - Ted

[sgarrity]

I too expected to be blown away by this cd and it just didn't happen. Don't get me wrong, it's well executed music, the pickers are all first rate and Dan has one of the best voices in the business. But it just doesn't seem to have much feeling and emotion to it. Maybe I'm just too into the traditional stuff.

Have you listened to Bluegrass Smash Hits, Volume 1 by the Mashville Brigade? Now that music is traditional with a modern twist and you FEEL it. I highly recommed that recording!

[buddyellis]

Have to say I'm on the other end of the spectrum. #Get past the 1st track. #This disk has been in my player every day since I got it.

No emotion? #How Long Is This Train has no emotion? Some Early Morning? #There's three songs on there I skip through (2, 3, &5 or something), usually, but the bulk of that disk is some pretty great, if somewhat depressing, music.

[sgarrity]

I agree that the words to a lot of the songs are emotional and as Buddy says, somewhat depressing. For me it's the music and delivery that doesn't have as much "feel" to it as I wanted. I dunno, maybe my expectations were too high.

I was looking for something more similar to Dan's work on the Lonsome River Band's "Carrying The Tradition" recording. That's excellent innovative bluegrass firmly rooted in tradition.

[kudzugypsy]

i got to listen to the DTB CD about 5 times thru - we were driving to a gig and it was that or the radio. here is my take - it sounds like nashville *product* - that its just something to sell at shows, sounds great on the radio, is well produced, doesnt push any boundries - now, it doesnt mean its bad, or thrown together, it just sounds like the nashville formula applied to BG. the picking is great, the production is great, everything is polished , the songs are well crafted, but the overall feel is just blah - in a car of 4, 2 liked it and 2 didnt - the 2 that liked it, pretty much like anything on the radio kind of people - the 2 that didnt had more critical musical tastes, meaning it had to have more than a polished production to appeal to them.
nashville is FULL of *formula* people - and there is no doubt that they were following the AKUS formula - i know some will say yeah, but it is US here, its gonna sound similiar, and that is true.

[Albert Whiting]

I will get to see Dan Tyminski this weekend at Whiteoak Bluegrass festival in Cleveland TN. I am curious to hear what they sound like. I will get their cd there and give it a try. I have had heard mixed reviews.

[Treblemaker]

I loved them at Grass Valley - they kick major butt - and Adam Steffey is a furious picker with "the voice of Satan."

My favorite thing is that they conciously add classic old time standards to their sets and shred them... The singing is every bit as hot as the pickin' too.

Treblemaker

[Ivan Kelsall]

Although the various musician comprising Dan's band know one another & have possibly played together many times,certainly that's the case with Dan,Adam & Ron,i think it takes time,even in the case of such great musicians & singers for a 'band style' to come together. If this band stayed together,i think that over a period of a couple of years,we'd start to hear a definitive Dan Tyminski Band sound,as new ideas & new approaches to their music & to one another's playing came into being.I think that we'd possible start to hear a 'cohesion' similar to that of 'The Infamous Stringdusters'. Those guys seem to be able to read each another's minds on stage. I think that you need to play together for quite a while to play like that,but once it kicks in,there's nothing better,playing off each other becomes as natural as breathing,
Saska

[Satchel]

Well said Saska.... I was thinking along the same lines. I didnt think the album was too bad for something that was put together in only a couple of months but, it wasnt as spectacular as I built my hopes up for. However, I will say that seeing them live is mind boggling, especially when they play the old standards.

These guys have raised the bar in bluegrass as individuals and I would love to see them stick together to see what comes out of it.I imagine that it would be nothing but straight ahead, keep you on the edge of your seat, hard drivin' grass which is what I love. #Yes, it is a business and if mushy AKUS love songs is what is making the $$$, then that's what Dan's got to do. Time will tell what comes out of this....but, I think that most of the bluegrass fans want Dan to move on.

[Ivan Kelsall]

I just heard Dan's band playing "Wheels" from their CD. One of the best 'modern' Bluegrass songs i've heard in a long time.The band is as tight as it ever needs to be - great stuff.I wish & hope that they'll survive as a band & give us more of the same,the band has a terrific line-up,
Saska

[EggerRidgeBoy]

I've no problem with that at all,she has to make a living,& if her music sells - which it does - fine,just don't give it a Bluegrass label.

AKUS doesn't give it a bluegrass label - they have all gone out of their way in various interviews over the years to explain that they do not consider themselves a "bluegrass band". It is true, of course, that many journalists, retailers, record companies, etc., continue to call what AKUS does "bluegrass", just because that's easier than taking the time to describe it accurately.

[mandolirius]

<AKUS doesn't give it a bluegrass label - they have all gone out of their way in various interviews over the years to explain that they do not consider themselves a "bluegrass band".>

If a band wants to be commercially successful, the bluegrass label is the kiss of death. I love bluegrass, but it's a tough way to make a living.

[Ivan Kelsall]

Rounder records promotes their recordings as 'Bluegrass',whether the band considers themselves a Bluegrass band or not. If the don't wish to come under the Bluegrass banner,perhaps they should let Rounder know & they can promote them as another form of music - but what would that be ?,
Saska

[mandopete]

Alison should do more sad songs...

Have you listened to A Hundred Miles or More? #That's about the most depressing set of songs I've ever heard.