Dan Tyminski came to town

By ART EDELSTEIN Arts Correspondent

Central Vermont had two reasons to be thankful for the Dan Tyminski Band concerts this past weekend.

First, Tyminski is a West Rutland native, so this is home ground. Second, British rocker Robert Plant has decided to tour with Tyminski’s primary employer, Alison Krauss, thus leaving this fine singer-guitarist with time to pursue his own rising career.

As a result, Barre and Rutland got to hear perhaps the best new bluegrass ensemble on the tour circuit.

“Wheels” is the band’s first CD, and it sizzles and cries. There are no bluegrass standards on this 12-song disk, so aficionados won’t be able to compare this band’s tracks with other groups, but, as a five-some, Tyminski, along with Adam Steffey on mandolin, Barry Bales on bass, Ron Stewart on banjo, and Justin Moses on fiddle and dobro, are as solid a unit as bluegrass ever produced.

You may not have seen Tyminski before, unless you’re a fan of Alison Krauss and Union Station, where he sings and plays guitar and mandolin, but if you’ve been to the movies and saw the super-popular “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” the Coen brothers’ hit from 2000, then you know his voice as the one George Clooney lip-synched to.

That movie catapulted bluegrass and old-time music into renaissance, bringing such legends as Ralph Stanley to the attention of a wider audience, one far more diverse than the bluegrass audience alone.

Tyminski is a great singer. I don’t give out that praise easily, but this guy has a great voice. It is strong, mellow, perfectly in pitch and confident. He could be making a living in the much more lucrative world of country music if he chose, but like a few other fine bluegrass singers and exceptional guitarists — Tony Rice comes to mind — Tyminski chooses to stay in the genre at which he is most comfortable and successful.

Rolling Stone said of the 13-time Grammy winner, “Tyminski helps push bluegrass to the front line.” He is “one of the genre’s biggest talents …”

Tyminski has spent the past decade-and-a-half in two of music’s most prominent ensembles, the Lonesome River Band and Krauss’s Union Station. He’s also earned the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Male Vocalist of the Year award three times and shared a Grammy for his vocals in “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”

With time off from Union Station this year, he assembled his band and is touring in support of “Wheels.”

The band includes longtime Union Station associate Barry Bales and former Union Station and Mountain Heart-member Adam Steffey.

Stewart is a favorite sideman and Moses is a newcomer to watch. This group was recently nominated by the IBMA for Instrumental Group of the Year, with Tyminski garnering a Male Vocalist of the Year nomination. Stewart, Bales and Steffey are in contention for awards in their respective instrument categories, as well. The IBMA Awards ceremony will take place at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn., on Oct. 2.

Tyminski’s biography says he comes from the “unlikely bluegrass state of Vermont.” I differ with that writer for, while we here in the Green Mountains don’t have much blue grass under our feet, that style of music has long been an interest here. Bluegrass is a rural American genre, often deeply religious, acoustic music and Vermonters are drawn to its themes, sincerity and general lack of shtick, filling summer concert venues whenever possible.

Tyminski, for his part, was raised by parents who listened to and played bluegrass and old-time music.

At 21, Tyminski’s singing and guitar and mandolin playing caught the ears of the Lonesome River Band and he appeared on its 1989 release “Looking for Yourself.” He joined Krauss for his first stint in 1992-93 and became a full-time member in 1994 as guitarist, lead and harmony vocalist, and occasional mandolinist. His voice and Krauss’, his the rough-hewn and hers the silken voice, are an exciting mix.

During his tenure with Krauss, Tyminski has played on a long list of successful albums and many, many shows.

Beyond Union Station’s CDs, Tyminski released his first solo album, “Carry Me Across the Mountain,” in 2003, and that is when this band was initially formed.

He has also toured as part of Vince Gill’s band and with Jerry Douglas. He was invited by Eric Clapton to participate in Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival in 2004 as a part of Union Station in 2007, further enhancing his musical resume.