O'Connor Family Band Archives

A Musical Legacy – Mark O’Connor Band

It’s hard to say anything about Mark O’Connor that hasn’t been said before. An award winning multi-instrumentalist, he’s been on the receiving end of countless kudos ever since he proved himself a teen prodigy in his adolescent years. For the last few decades, he’s been a go-to musician for countless major names — among them, James Taylor, Dolly Parton, Johnny Cash, Yo-Yo Ma, and any number of others. Nevertheless, his family band may be the best example of his dexterity and dynamic, being that it not only spotlights his skills, but those of his wife and children in a communal setting that allows the skills and synchronicity of all involved to clearly be evident. A Musical Legacy provides all the evidence needed.

What’s especially remarkable is the way the quintet manages to integrate such a variety of musical styles without losing the clarity and consistency that flows throughout these live performances. They offer up a pair of instrumental interludes with a grassy feel (Emily’s Reel, Gold Rush), before easily transitioning into a set of songs that run the gamut from traditional standards (Shady Grove, Faded Love, Blue Moon of Kentucky, Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, Little Maggie) to a handful of originals (Butterfly’s Day Out, A Bowl of Bula) without any disruption to the flow. The playing is, as might be expected, superb, but more than that, it’s the verve and vitality evident in each of these offerings that makes this effort shine.

That said, it ought to be noted that A Musical Legacy is actually a reissue of the O’Connor Family original Live album for Mark’s OMAC label, with a pair of bonus tracks added on. Those who pay close attention the song titles or peer at the fine print on the back cover might be disappointed to discover that it becomes a repeat purchase. The extra tracks — the rousing It’s In My Blood, featuring guest producer Zac Brown, and the tender tones of Casino may well be worth the cost as far as more fanatical fans are concerned, but why O’Connor and company chose to reprise the rest seems something of a mystery. As prolific as he’s proven himself to be over the past decades (the inner sleeve notes share the fact that he’s released 45 albums in 45 years), it would seem that it wouldn’t take more than minimal effort to put together some live holdovers.

Then again, A Musical Legacy might have been meant as an introduction for those who were heretofore unaware. We can go with that premise but still hope that something new will soon be finished and forthcoming.

UPDATE December 16: After reading this review, Mark asked us to add these comments from him.

“I released the O’Connor Band Live CD last year as mainly something to sell at our concerts. However, we did not play that many concerts this last year due to other projects, and we did not sell any on the Zac Brown Band tour that the band opened as well. When we recorded the two Zac Brown-produced tracks last year, they did not have any designation for an album, and I thought they should ultimately. So the idea of joining these seemed logical, since there are no more recordings with Zac in the pipeline. I remastered these two tracks to go with the live tracks for A Musical Legacy.

I am also working on producing yet another live album on the O’Connor Band featuring Maggie, Kate Lee, and Forrest which is due next year and that will feature the music we have been playing on my annual An Appalachian Christmas tours. I worried about an abundance of live releases all inside 2 years if I was I to do even more live recordings this year. Receiving very limited distribution anyway, I decided to take down and cancel the Live CD as a release by itself. I repackaged those live recordings as they create the ideal artistic arc I intended for the band at this time, joining them with the two Zac Brown tracks that had been waiting for an album. This is now a 70-minute release with 16 tracks.

A Musical Legacy are some of my favorite recordings I have released!”

O’Connor Band previews new live album on video

The O’Connor Band is celebrating the release of their second album this week.

O’Connor Band Live! is the record of a single performance by the group, led by fiddle superstar Mark O’Connor, captured at the Sellersville Theater in Pennsylvania. It contains 14 live tracks from that show, without overdubs, of the Grammy-winning group which also features Mark’s wife, Maggie O’Connor on fiddle, his son, Forrest O’Connor, on mandolin and vocals, and Forrest’s wife, Kate Lee O’Connor, on fiddle and vocals.

The group has taken the bluegrass and acoustic music world by storm this past two years, winning the 2017 bluegrass Grammy award for their debut project, Coming Home, and impressing audiences at festivals and concert halls across the US.

They have created this introductory video for the live record, released to coincide with the album which dropped earlier this week. You’ll hear snippets of the music from the album, while each of the band members in turn share their thoughts about what they are doing together artistically.

O’Connor Band Live! is available now on Mark’s OMAC Records wherever acoustic and bluegrass music is sold.

O’Connor Band at the City Winery

Last night, O’Connor Band performed at Nashville’s City Winery, and the stars of Music City’s bluegrass scene came out to enjoy the show. Our own Terry Herd was in the audience, and he sent along a few photos and some comments about the show.

It was a triumphant return to Nashville for Mark O’Connor, a musician who had previously taken the town by storm, winning a record breaking six Country Music Association Musician Of The Year Awards in a row from 1991 – 1996.

A large crowd of friends, fellow musicians, and fans were in the audience, including Danny Roberts, Barbara Lamb, Jimmy Mattingly, Rhonda Vincent, George Gruhn, Tony Brown, and others.

Mark’s wife Maggie O’Connor played flawlessly, and added a layer of levity to the night with the suggestion she was not the same person being chased by revenuers, as she broke into a driving rendition of Little Maggie.

Kate Lee’s soaring vocals delivered powerful yet delicate renditions of Always Do and the Osborne Brother’s classic, Ruby, Are You Mad At Your Man.

The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree as evidenced by Mark’s son, Forrest O’Connor, whose impeccable mandolin work was highlighted throughout the night. Completing the family vibe, Forrest and Kate are engaged to be married.

O’Connor Band is completed by Joe Smart on guitar and Geoff Saunders on bass and banjo. After a stellar set, the group encored to a standing ovation.

It was great to see Mark back in bluegrass, doing what every musician dreams of – playing incredible music on the road with his family.

Surry Arts Council launches bluegrass concert series

The Surry Arts Council, located in Mount Airy, NC, has announced an aggressive music series as part of their ongoing Visit Mayberry campaign. Billed as Blue Ridge & Beyond, the concerts will be held in the town’s historic Earle Theatre and will features performances from some of the top acts in bluegrass.

Shows start later this month and will occur roughly once a month on Saturday nights through September of 2017. O’Connor Band kicks things off on November 19, featuring fiddle great Mark O’Connor with his family, followed by The Del McCoury Band on December 17.

Tanya Jones with the Arts Council says folks in the area are excited about seeing these artists in town, and expect them to bring in a good many visitors as well.

“To attract this caliber of talent to Surry County is incredible. These groups often play in coliseums and very large venues. Seeing them in a small venue like the Earle is a unique experience. To get on stage, the artists have to walk down the aisles right past the fans.”

Other shows on the Blue Ridge & Beyond schedule include:

January 21 – Shadowgrass
February 17 – Jerry Douglas Presents Earls of Leicester
March 4 – Bryan Sutton Band
March 31 – Lonesome River Band
May 20 – Carson Peters and Iron Mountain
June 23 – Seldom Scene
August 19 – Will Jones Band
September 23 – Balsam Range

Ticket information can be found on the Surry Arts Council web site, and lodging details at VisitMayberry.com.

Coming Home video from O’Connor Band

The O’Connor Band has released a new music video for the song Coming Home, the title track from their new Rounder album.

It’s a fun, summery video featuring fiddle virtuoso Mark O’Connor with his family back on the streets of Seattle where he grew up, as his son Forrest sings the song he wrote as a college student about how it feels to come home. You can see the joy in Mark’s eyes as they shot in his old neighborhood, and he rides around on his old skateboard from the ’70s.

In addition to Mark and Forrest, the Band includes Mark’s wife, Maggie, and Forrest’s girlfriend, Kate Lee, both on fiddle as well. Joe Smart is on guitar and Geoff Saunders on bass.

Coming Home is available now wherever popular music is sold, including directly from O’Connor Band online.

Always Do video from O’Connor Family Band

One of the great pleasures of age is the experience of having watched life unfold around you, both your own and those of younger people you have encountered along the way. I can recall Mark O’Connor when he was a gangly teenager winning fiddle contests as though they were a walk in the park, following Tony Rice into the seminal David Grisman Quintet on guitar, and then touring with rock fusion outfit The Dixie Dregs, all before most kids finish college.

We lost him for a while as he focused next on the world of modern classical music, composing and performing, and promoting his own violin method for American music. But he’s back in the world of traditional acoustic string music, performing in a new kind of family band.

The O’Connor Family Band features Mark with his youthful bride, Maggie, with whom he has performed this past few years, and his adult son, Forrest, and his lovely partner, Kate Lee. That’s three fiddlers and a mandolinist – oh, and Kate who is a terrific singer. Add in Joe Smart and Geoff Saunders on guitar and bass, and you have a formidable ensemble on stage and in the studio.

It’s a slightly different sort of family dynamic than the typical bluegrass family band, but when you see this bunch together, you can tell that they care deeply for one another, and respect and enjoy each other’s musical abilities.

Their debut album for Rounder Records, Coming Home, is due in a few weeks, and the band has dropped this music video for the opening track, Always Do, written by Jim Shirey, a good friend and writing partner of Forrest and Kate’s.

Coming Home is set for wide release on August 5.

Friday at Grey Fox 2016

Friday of Grey Fox 2016 was jam packed full of a wide variety of traditional and progressive bluegrass and related musics, legends, and new faces and sounds. Whether one wanted to see names that they had known and followed for years or be exposed to new music and people, plenty of options abounded all day at the many stages big and small. There were large stages for watching, places to dance, workshops, jam sessions, kids busking around the campground, and loads of smiles and good times.

Without further ado, I will let you see and hear for yourself just a small taste of the fun.

Ruby – O’Connor Family Band

Red Rocking Chair – Mike Compton and Joe Newberry

Greasy Coat – Charm City Junction

Walkin’ Boss – David Grisman Bluegrass Experience

Trout Steak Revival

Left In This World Alone – Del McCoury Band with Cole Quest

Fiddlin’ Around – Mark & Maggie O’Connor

Train On The Island – Charm City Junction

I’m My Own Grandpa – David Grisman & Del McCoury

O’Connor Family Coming Home August 5

Rounder Records has announced August 5 as the release date for Coming Home, the debut album from the O’Connor Band featuring Mark O’Connor.

For Mark, who dominated US fiddle competitions as a teen in the 1970s, he’s coming home to the music that launched his career, which in recent years has been focused on modern classical music and violin instruction. He returns to a sound based on traditional music forms with his wife, Maggie, herself an outstanding violinist, and his son Forrest, a mandolin champion, singer and songwriter. The band is completed by Kate Lee, Forrest’s fiancée and yet another accomplished violinist. Kate and Forrest also handle the primary vocal duties for the O’Connor Band, supported by Joe Smart on guitar and Geoff Saunders on bass and banjo.

Since making his return to the bluegrass scene last year, Mark and his family band band have been warmly received by folk and acoustic music audiences who recall his brilliant recordings with The David Grisman Quintet (on both fiddle and guitar), and his many stellar solo projects in the ’70s and ’80s.

For Coming Home, the group has assembled songs written by Forrest and Kate, along with some of their Nashville writing partners, giving the music a fresh, young appeal, along with several fiddle pieces to showcase dear old dad. Mark covers Bill Monroe’s iconic Jerusalem Ridge, the old favorite Fisher’s Hornpipe, and a new composition of his own, Fiddler Going Home.

Rounder has prepared this video preview to offer a brief taste of what is to come from Coming Home.

Look for Coming Home August 5.

O’Connor Family Band to Rounder

Rounder Records has signed an agreement with The O’Connor Family Band to release their first album as a group.

The band boasts the talents of bluegrass, contest, jazz, and classical fiddle virtuoso Mark O’Connor, his lovely and very talented wife, Maggie O’Connor, Mark’s son Forrest O’Connor, and his equally lovely and talented girlfriend, Kate Lee.

Their music combines the brilliant instrumental music Mark has written for violin, often as duets between he and Maggie, and the original Americana/acoustic songs that Forrest and Kate have composed. They are in the studio now recording with Joe Smart on guitar and Geoffrey Saunders on bass. Forrest will be playing mandolin and singing, with Kate on third violin and singing as well. Neal Cappellino is engineering with and Gregg Field producing.

Mark and Maggie have been touring together for some time, while Forrest and Kate worked with an acoustic trio in Nashville called Wisewater. The family got together for some shows last fall (including World of Bluegrass 2015), and are now looking to make it their primary performing vehicle. They are accepting dates through Cadenza Artists.

Here’s a sampler from their set during Wide Open Bluegrass last Fall.

When Mark was Forrest’s age, he had already been retired from most string instrument competitions in the country, having won national titles in fiddle, guitar, and mandolin in his teens. His playing was so far ahead of most others in the 1970s that they had to prohibit him from competing and make him a judge!

You can see that young Forrest not only inherited some of his father’s facility with the mandolin, he also bears a remarkable resemblance to his dad at that age.

The band has shared a few photos from their week in the studio.

Keep track of The O’Connor Family Band online.