Tim O'Brien & Jan Fabricius

Warm vocals, string wizardry, and heartfelt original songs...

Multi-Grammy award winner Tim O’Brien and Jan Fabricius have performed nationally and internationally as a duo or as part of the Tim O’Brien Band since 2015. In a duet setting with a guitar, a mandolin, and their two voices, they bring an intimate and warm acoustic music roots repertoire that’s at once both original and traditional.

Singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist O’Brien, born in Wheeling, WV, in 1954, grew up singing and playing guitar in church and school. After seeing Doc Watson on TV, he became a lifelong devotee of old-time and bluegrass music. Co-founder of Colorado’s Hot Rize, he toured the world with that band from 1978 until he started his solo career in 1990. His songs have been covered by Kathy Mattea, Garth Brooks, and the Dixie Chicks, and his collaborators onstage and in the recording studio include Darrell Scott, Dirk Powell, Mark Knopfler, and Sturgill Simpson. Awarded Grammys in both the Folk and Bluegrass categories, he is a member of the West Virginia and the Colorado Music Halls of Fame. He lives with his wife, Jan Fabricius, in Nashville, TN.

Jan grew up in WaKeeney, KS, and sang from an early age in church and school, taking up clarinet and then mandolin. A registered nurse and mother of two, she kept her hand in music through local jams and regional bluegrass festivals while raising her family.

Jan’s music with Tim started informally around their home as he wrote or learned new songs, and she soon found herself singing and playing mandolin in the studio and onstage. O’Brien’s albums He Walked On (2021) and Cup of Sugar (2023) feature original songs co-written by Tim and Jan.

“O’Brien writes songs whose music invites us in warmly, wrapping us comfortably in sound before unveiling the lyrics that often reveal our shortcomings or sometimes celebrate the bonds we share with others.” --Folk Alley

“Tim O’Brien has traveled the world and delighted audiences since 1975 with his warm vocals, string wizardry, and heartfelt original songs.” --The Journal of Music

This project is made possible with funds from the Statewide Community Regrants Program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature and administered by CNY Arts.

This project is made possible with funds from the Tier Three Project Support program, a regrant program of the County of Onondaga with the support of the County Executive and administered by CNY Arts.

  ~ This project is also made possible through the support and generosity of our Folkus members. ~