The entire, uncut interview will be posted Monday, september 27, 2004) For three or four years I have been fully intrigued by a man I heard on a live Dave Matthews CD. He played an acoustic guitar song called “Stream”. I initially thought for sure that there were at least two people playing this song because the combination of strumming and finger picking together at such high speeds was jaw dropping.
It was months later that I discovered that a man named Tim Reynolds, just barely above five feet tall, single-handedly played this song and hundreds more like it. I went on to discover he is a master of the violin, sitar, drums, drum machine, bass, keyboard, electric guitar, acoustic guitar and is rumored to have been seen playing hard rock on the harp in the ’80s.
Under his belt are seven independently produced solo records with four more on the way in the next year, one solo DVD, countless records in collaboration with other solo artists, six or more records in collaboration with the Dave Matthews Band, thousands of solo tour dates, thousands of Dave Matthews Band dates, thousands of Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds dates and over a hundred Dave Matthews and Friends tour dates.
Tim Reynolds though is not a member of the Dave Matthews Band nor is he signed with any record label. He lives in New Mexico with his college-aged son and elementary school-aged daughter Eura (who is featured singing on some of his records).
His solo shows are few and sporadic; those who are able to attend are changed forever. He chooses only small venues for himself, with the desire to create a reality with his emotional instrumental music that speaks volumes to themes such as politics, death, love, happiness and spirituality. He has been called by many the “Mad Scientist of the Guitar.”
After being fortunate enough to step into the green room at Harper’s Ferry in Boston, Mass., I was able to talk to Reynolds about his music, career, and future ventures.
Sean Corbett: Where did you learn to play, and how did you pick this instrument over any other?
Tim Reynolds: Mostly in the bedroom. It picked me. Yeah, I mean, generally that’s where you…do it.
Now, I know that you’re interested in all string instruments. Which one is you favorite, or is that obvious?
Well, the guitar is, because I’m, like, so familiar with it, but I like playing the sitar. I don’t have one anymore, but I’ve had one for years. I like how I was able to flow with it. …I usually record with drums and base (referencing a type of recording that uses a drum machine and a base sound effect).
This is the question I have wanted to ask ever since I bought my first Tim Reynolds CD years ago. How do you name your songs [that have] no vocals?
It’s just some songs are like that, and some I think about. It just depends. It’s really different for every song. Some are like a story in my mind, and I just relate it to what that incident feels like and writing it. You know, some are political, even though they don’t have lyrics, but just my thought.
It’s almost like you’re speaking through your instrument, it’s really something to hear. I think that’s what makes you most intriguing.
That’s hopefully the thing that happens ultimately. Otherwise it’s not really worth [it]; it’s just human error for no reason, but it’s got to have something going on, you know? It’s like you try to invest it with all this meaning as it were, and if you get one second of that, then it’s all right.
What do you think about you, well, your name at least, being so attached to Dave Matthews?
It’s very fortunate that I’m able to financially support myself enough through that, which is what I do most of the time. So it’s good in that respect, you know?
And what about being introduced to people as “Dave Matthews’ Collaborator” like you were tonight?
Well, it’s inevitable, really, because that’s what’s going to pour me into big arenas, and that’s why I like to take a step back from full-time big arenas. And with the tight following, you know, that’s fine. I can just make the music how I want for better or for worse, and it’s not that I don’t appreciate people who go the other way (big arenas all the time) because that’s a science and a giving that’s beyond human capacity.
Your ideal gig. Would it be with Dave Matthews in a big arena? Would it be Dave and Friends? Would it be a small show like tonight where the big entrance is you walk from the bar to the stage, and instantly people start sitting around you, instead of requesting Dave Matthews songs?
The ideal gig is any of those that is just a good gig. Like tonight was an ideal gig because it was just simply a good gig. It depends on all the factors. The expression of doing a solo show, though, is just naked, so when that’s really good, it’s the most good. Tonight I was able to create the illusion of a band with the pre-recorded drum machine and bass. And to create that reality is just…awesome.
The ideal gig is any of those that is just a good gig. Like tonight was an ideal gig because it was just simply a good gig. It depends on all the factors. The expression of doing a solo show, though, is just naked, so when that’s really good, it’s the most good. Tonight I was able to create the illusion of a band with the prerecorded drum machine and bass. And to create that reality is just…awesome.
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