Dan Tyminski with his Blue Blaze Award (7/4/26) – photo © Bill Conger
Hours before the skies were blowing up with fireworks celebrating the nation’s 250th birthday, bluegrass veteran Dan Tyminski and his band stepped on stage at the annual Smithville Fiddlers Jamboree in Tennessee. Following their hour-long set, Tyminski accepted the jamboree’s annual Blue Blaze Award that is presented each year to an artist who has made a significant and lasting contribution to the preservation and advancement of traditional Appalachian music.
“I always feel strange accepting anything like that because this music has done so much more for me than I’ve ever done for it,” Tyminski told Bluegrass Today in an interview earlier Saturday. “But I’m honored. I’ve made it (music) my life’s work, and I don’t see anything changing from this point forward.”
A native of Rutland, VT, the lead vocalist/guitarist grew up immersed in bluegrass and country music.
“How I got into music initially was my parents were just music fans,” Tyminski explains. “They wanted to hear live music. They didn’t care if it was fiddle contests, square dances, country bands in bars—wherever the music was being played, I got to tag along as a kid. I just had something in my ear every week.”
Ever since, the 14-time Grammy winner has had an affinity for live performances over recordings.
“It’s always been the difference-maker to me,” he said. “I can still remember where I was when I heard Bluegrass Album Band (Volume 1). I can remember where I was when I heard J.D. Crowe and the New South, 0044. Those are my only two recording memories. Every other part of my brain is saturated with live music experiences. I just think live music touches you so much harder.
“I really encourage people, even if they’re big music fans and they have the best stereo and say, ‘Well, it’ll never sound as good as here in my house.’ You’ll get fed in a completely different way if you go out to hear live music. So yeah, I’m a big advocate for that, and love to see people chasing it around the country. It feeds your soul a different way when you go hear it live.”
During his free live concert, Tyminski was joined by the 2024 IBMA Resophonic Guitar Player of the Year Gaven Largent, Grace Davis (bass), Jason Davis (banjo), Aaron Ramsey (mandolin), and Nathan Aldridge (fiddle). As expected, Tyminski performed his iconic hit, I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow. In 2000, he recorded the lead vocals for the song as the singing voice of George Clooney’s character in O Brother, Where Art Thou.
“Twenty-six years later, and I’m still not tired of it,” Tyminski says. “I react to people’s reactions to it. I don’t have to worry about trying to keep it fresh. When I play a song and see someone delighted that we’re doing their song, that’s what fresh is to me. Every smile I see tells me I’ve touched someone in a positive way. Even though it’s called ‘Man of Constant Sorrow,’ I’d say we’ve graduated to ‘occasional discomfort,'” he adds, jokingly.
As popular as that song remains among bluegrass and roots crowds, Tyminski became a global hit in 2013 with Avicili’s Hey Brother. He explained to the Jamboree crowd the huge impression it made on his daughter when he was asked to join the EDM music great on that song. The musician recently ventured into that world again.
“I’ve had several offers to do EDM projects since Avicii. This is the first one that really made sense—song-wise, timing-wise, everything. I really love this song from Kygo. Heaven on Your Mind is the title of it, and yeah, I’m back in the EDM world, at least as far as people out there know. I’m still a bluegrasser. Anyone who knows the real Dan knows I’m all about fiddles and banjos. But somehow I’ve found a niche in the EDM world where it works with my voice and gets a good response, so I’m going to ride it.”
Tyminksi also performed a recent popular song that he has decided to formally record.
“Smile When You’re Alone is something I do plan on going into a recording studio and having an official studio recording of now. This is a song that I hadn’t intended to come out quite so quickly, or how it did. I played it live one day, and I had an overwhelming response from the audience. People came up to the merchandise table asking, ‘Where do you have this recorded? How do we get it?’ I tried it again at the next show and got the same response. I just decided I had to have some sort of version of this out. I went into a studio and did a live version where I just sat down and played it. We had a camera guy there who walked through the whole thing. We tried to do a quick one-take video.”
The singer/songwriter wrote the song with frequent collaborator Jimmy Yeary who’s penned 14 #1 songs, and was the writer on the 2013 CMA and ACM Song of the Year, I Drive Your Truck.
“He asked what was going on in my life, like you do before you write. I was talking about my son. I’d spent some time with him—I hadn’t seen him in a while—and I asked, ‘What are you doing tomorrow?’ He said, ‘I’m going to close on my house.’ I looked at my little baby boy and said, ‘You’re going to close on a house? Where are you buying a house?’ He shook his head and said, ‘No, I’m not buying a house. I’m selling my house.”‘I said, ‘You have a house?’ This is my baby—I had no idea. We talked about what a strange feeling it was to be so close to someone and not even know what they’re doing right down the road from you.”
Prior to Tyminski, the Blue Blaze award had been presented to The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys, East Nash Grass, The Kody Norris Show, Tennessee Mafia Jug Band, Sister Sade, Danny Roberts of The Grascals, Sierra Hull, Ronnie Reno, Michael Cleveland, and Darrin Vincent of Dailey & Vincent.
