Tim Reynolds: Guitar Virtuosu Talks About His New Album

(Published in The Mirror 5/5/05)
During a serious conversation about music and his new album, legendary guitarist Tim Reynolds heard a knock at the locked green room door and instantly yelled out in a high-pitched voice, "We're naked!"

He was humbly seated backstage on a red satin couch, handling an alien pin with blinking red eyes that he wished he had worn on stage to accompany the large blue mixing bowl he wore as a hat.

He performed for about 300 at Suffolk University's C. Walsh Theater on Thursday in Boston, MA and again the next night in Brooklyn, NY. Having the ability to attend one show as a reporter and another simply as a fan was quite a joy.

Reynolds has been playing the guitar since he was very young and has been pushing the musical envelope ever since. A majority of his songs have no lyrics, but the titles still somehow match up with the emotions evoked through the music. Few have this ability.

Reynolds has attributed his creativity and songwriting ability in past interviews to things like hallucinogenic mushrooms and marijuana, his wife, his daughter and music itself.

To further explain why he writes music, Tim Reynolds said after the Boston show, "I can't not. You know, it's a disease, it won't go away."


Reynolds played an hour and a half set in Boston of all acoustic guitar songs. Most were original compositions spanning over 20 years of songwriting. There were also two Beatles songs covered with such originality that they almost sounded like completely new songs.

"Come Together" was composed without lyrics, with the melody played in unison with the rhythm. A blind audience member would have thought a second or third guitarist has stepped on stage for that song. "All You Need is Love" was later sung with assistance from the audience.

Many present were unaware of Reynolds' unique voice and singing ability because of his history with the popular Dave Matthews Band as a backup guitarist.

"This was the first time I have ever seen Tim Reynolds outside of DMB, never mind hearing him talk or sing," said Colin Barden, a 24 year-old fan.

Reynolds has recently released a double CD that he has been recording since 1998. Reynolds and his management are all very excited about this release and describe it as the best representation of his musical tastes and abilities.

"I actually spent more time on [it] than any other CD ever," Reynolds told The Mirror in a backstage interview.

The CD featured many electric guitar tracks accompanied by drum machines, helicopter samples, distorted vocals, loud bass lines and ape screams

To explain the reasoning behind the inclusion of music that is much harder than many of his past acoustic albums, Reynolds said, "I go back way before DMB and all that, and I was much more into Rock music. That's sort of a late reference point for the public as it were. I mean, it's hard, but it's just a lot of different stuff."

In a follow-up phone interview, Reynolds explained that touring, recording and performing for him is not about the money.

"I get a certain high off that when I play solo. It's a positive experience."

The creativity that he exudes into his music is not mainstream. It can be considered an acquired taste, like a fine espresso: bitter to some, necessary to others. He wants to stay true to what he hears in his mind. This is hard for many to understand until they hear his music.

On stage he will suddenly turn on the drum machine and play the acoustic guitar over it or sing in a raspy voice about how the US government is a propaganda machine. He will walk on stage about moon boots or suddenly go off on a tangent about physics and the sixth dimension.

Despite the obvious differences from popular music, all who hear him or see him perform envy his level of creativity and his freedom and raw ability to express himself flawlessly through the guitar and the many other instruments he has perfected over the years.

Many audience members do not know how to express themselves after a Tim Reynolds concert. And that is the beauty.

Last year Tim Reynolds said after a different concert in Boston that he realized the kind of music and art that he has respect for is "the kind that you don't understand, because that's pushing forward."

"I always heard he was weird," John Ginelli, 19, said. "But I had no idea how weird until tonight. And I loved it, every second of it."