Friday, February 1, 2008
DMBnews.net by Colin Steele
Tim Reynolds has reincarnated TR3, the band that first exposed Dave Matthews to crowds in Charlottesville, Va. This new version features bassist Mick Vaughn and drummer Dan Martier, two musicians Tim met when he moved from New Mexico to North Carolina's Outer Banks last year.
"There's a lot of music there, and I started playing out locally," Tim said. "We just had a great rapport, and we did a couple gigs as a trio, and it just gelled."
Tim gave an exclusive interview to DMBnews.net on Friday as he and his bandmates traveled by van to a concert in Tampa, Fla.
"I just like playing music," he said. "It's just fun to play with a band again. I'd been doing things with drum machines for a while, and I got kind of bored. It's not as exciting as playing with humans, clearly."
One of the humans Tim has played with most is of course Dave Matthews. They have played acoustic concerts together since 1993 and released two live albums, Live at Luther College and Live at Radio City. Tim played electric guitar on Dave Matthews Band's first three studio albums, as well as Dave's solo album, Some Devil. He was a regular guest on stage with DMB in the 1990s, and he's also a member of the Dave Matthews and Friends band formed in 2003.
Dave and Tim this week announced they will appear at the Kokua Festival in Hawaii in April. Tim spoke to DMBnews.net before that announcement, but he did talk about past performances with Dave. Here's an audio clip(TR's fave song to play with Dave):
http://www.dmbnews.net/2008/02/dmbnewsnet-interview-tim-reynolds_05.html
Tim later talked about what it's like to play with DMB, which he hasn't done since 2004: "With the band it's just fun to play everything, 'cause you're just rockin' out."
Dave and Friends shows -- featuring the frontman flanked by Tim and Trey Anastasio on electric guitars -- included a lot of cover songs, and Tim mentioned Joe Walsh's "Rocky Mountain Way" as one of his favorites to play. On the current TR3 tour, the band is playing songs by James Brown and Led Zeppelin, among others.
"In a club atmosphere, I think people really like the classics," Tim said.
TR3 also plays "Purple Rain" by Prince. Video of Tim playing the song on the guitar with his teeth appeared online, but Prince is notoriously protective of his music's copyrights and had the video taken down.
"I understand that," Tim said.
There are some TR3 featuring Tim Reynolds shows scheduled in the Upper Midwest and Northeast through the end of March. Tim has done most of his recent recording at home, and he said he's looking forward to eventually getting into the studio with his band.
"But right now," he said, "I'm just focusing on this tour."
TR on the new Radiohead:
http://www.dmbnews.net/2008/02/dmbnewsnet-interviews-tim-reynolds_01.html