TR3 - Watch It
Interviews


Friday, April 17, 1998
DailyIllini.com

Courtesy of DailyIllini.com Page B09, Dave's Table and Dreaming: Tim Reynolds

Diversions Story by Christopher Straley and Eric Eastep, 04/17/98

Tomorrow, guitar master Tim Reynolds, who is the composer of a half dozen albums and the featured guitarist on every CD that the Dave Matthews Band has ever released, will be invading the Blind Pig with his band TR3. The show promises to be a great one as Tim and company continually find a way to blend every form of music imaginable. Recently, we received the opportunity to interview Tim and learn a little more about how he started his love affair with music, and where he wants it to take him.

DI: We've learned that as a young boy you took piano lessons as well as played bass at your church. How did your musical interest evolve from there?

Reynolds: Before I actually played bass at church, my uncle Bill came to live with my family and he got me into guitar. We used to jam and he taught me all the chords. He inspired me and would be right there behind me.

DI: At what point did you really get started in forming a band?

Reynolds: What made me really start the band was that I loved Bob Marley so much I just wanted to go play a bunch of songs with him - with Marley and the trio.

DI: How has TR3 changed musically over time?

Reynolds: "It started in 1984, as a kind of improv jazz group. By 1987 and 1988, it became more of a progressive rock something or other, some ska stuff, and a couple of reggae pieces. It was always changing. In the early ?s, we expanded and we added a keyboard and percussion like a worldly jazz band. When we would go to record there would be a different focus on each album.

DI: Besides TR3, your guitar work has been featured on every Dave Matthews album ever released, how do you add to their music?

Reynolds: What I do is all the little melodic parts as well as rhythm parts. We both kind of play rhythm parts unless somebody is soloing. When we record on the records, I always play what he (Dave Matthews) does as a general rule, and then I add stuff just to fatten it up.

DI: How would you say that the Dave Matthews Band has effected you and your band?

Reynolds: More so in the recording process and my outlook at music. Musically, it probably is less and less. I like all that stuff (DMB songs), but I like to keep going and keep finding out places I haven't checked out that much yet.

DI: What would you say the pinnacle of your career is thus far?

Reynolds: Right now I'm at the pinnacle, just doing what I'm doing. If it (TR3) ever gets real big on its own, that's cool, but I don't want to push it. If you have to push the band beyond its natural growth, then you have to get into an immediate thing where you're gonna have to simplify at least what the larger amount of people hear, so the larger amount of people can easily gravitate towards your music, whatever it is. That kind of limits you to your hits that you play for a 30,000 seat or a 10,000 seat audience, and unless you have been around for 20 years and they know everything about you, they're just going to know your hits.

DI: Is there any song that you enjoy playing the most at a show?

Reynolds: I like it when whatever song it is, it just happens. I like it when we take it up to a really high and intense level and then bring it down. People are really into that. It's a neat part of the show.

DI: Does the road ever get hard or annoying?

Reynolds: The only time it's tough or when I get worn out, is when I have to fly and get up at 5 a.m. to catch a 7 a.m. flight across the country to be somewhere in the afternoon. At the same time those kind of experiences can be kind of cool because your brain is in a different state. You're sort of tired, but once you're on stage you forget about that. It's almost like lucid dreaming. You play different because your head is opened up a little more and the door between consciousness and unconsciousness is almost not there. But that's when you're trying to go for it, when you're playing and you haven't slept. You're up for the gig and into the gig, it's almost like tripping. The music gets really cool. You find yourself playing (and your mind drifts), and you go ÔOh, I'm in a gig. Wow!'

Tim assured us that there is more music to come. Although not entirely confirmed, there is a good chance that Tim and Dave Matthews will hit the road together next year, in their third acoustic tour. In the meantime, be sure to catch him at the Blind Pig tomorrow night.