Dan Tyminski
Bio
Dan Tyminski was six years old when his parents began taking him to fiddle contests, square dances, and bluegrass festivals across New England. For a young musician who would later become one of the biggest names in modern-day bluegrass, those early experiences were life-changing.
"Watching live music always spoke to me much louder than sitting in front of my record player," he remembers. "I loved it. Wherever music was being played, I wanted to go watch. Years later, I still feel that way."
Tyminski isn't just watching live music these days; he's making it, too, building a diverse and dynamic career whose highlights include 14 Grammy Awards, multiple recordings as a member of Alison Krauss & Union Station, several chart-topping solo releases, a genre-bending collaborative smash with DJ Avicii, and a knockout performance of "I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow" from O Brother, Where Art Thou?'s multi-platinum soundtrack. He's a living legend of American roots music. A global ambassador of bluegrass, too. With his newest release — the concert album Dan Tyminski: Live From The Ryman — he proves he's also the same person who went to countless shows as a child, transfixed by live music's power to communicate and connect.
Dan Tyminski: Live From The Ryman shines a light on Tyminski's acclaimed live show. Recorded in Nashville at the Ryman Auditorium — the legendary venue known as "The Birthplace of Bluegrass" — the album showcases the sharp songwriting, full-throttle vocals, and guitar chops that have powered Tyminski's music for decades. It's also a showcase for his ace band, a young group of fiery flat-pickers, hotshot instrumentalists, and harmony singers whose sheer talent is matched only by the band's frontman. The result is a blend of old and new: a record that makes room for traditional influences, progressive energy, cover songs, originals, and unreleased material.
"The musicians in this band grew up listening to my music, so they know my stuff much better than I do!" Tyminski says. "If you listen to how they play and how well they listen to each other, you'll notice there's a conversation going back and forth at all times."
That conversation springs to life during instrumental numbers like "Cumberland Gap," where the audience roars its approval after each solo. It continues with live renditions of "Ode to Jimmy" (a tribute to Tyminski's childhood hero, Jimmy Martin), "Silence in the Brandy" (which examines the lingering effects of PTSD on soldiers returning home from war), and "GOAT" — all of which appeared on God Fearing Heathen, which debuted at Number 1 on the Billboard Bluegrass chart in 2023 — and breathes new life into older material like "This Sad Song," which Tyminski first performed on Alison Krauss & Union Station's Grammy-winning Lonely Runs Both Ways. On the previously-unreleased song "Whiskey Drinking Man," Tyminski sings about hard liquor with a commanding voice that reaches all the way to the rearmost rows of the Ryman, then cedes the spotlight to mandolin player Harry Clark, fiddler Maddie Denton, Dobro player Gaven Largent, banjoist Jason Davis, and upright bassist Grace Davis. There's also a standout performance of "I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow," the career-changing song that won a Grammy Award in 2002 and has since served as a bridge for multiple generations of music fans, helping them discover their own love of bluegrass and traditional folk music.
"I've played that song at literally every show I've done since it came out," he says. "I still look forward to it every night, because I love seeing everyone get up, dance, and sing along. It's an opportunity for all of us to connect. I have dabbled in so many fields of music, but I love hard-driving, energetic bluegrass. That's what lives at the center of my soul. If I can help someone else discover that they love it, too… well, that's just the beauty of music."
Tyminski hasn't forgotten about the artists who inspired his own musical discoveries at a young age, and Live From The Ryman comes to an appropriate close with one of his favorite songs from childhood: the bluegrass classic "Old Home Place." "To me, it's more than just a traditional song," Tyminski says. "It's the gold standard of bluegrass. I first heard 'Old Home Place' when I was 12 years old, and that's what got me into bluegrass music in the first place. For me, it's the absolute benchmark."
Once a fan, always a fan. Tyminski hasn't lost his awestruck appreciation for the songs (and live shows) that inspired him as a child, and he's happy to share that inspiration onstage. At the same time, he makes music for the modern world, too, writing new songs that nod to the classic traditions of bluegrass while exploring new ground. Dan Tyminski: Live From The Ryman is Tyminski at his very best, bridging the gap between generation and genre.
