TIM REYNOLDS INTERVIEW

Originally published September 2023

It’s a pool day for guitar mastermind Tim Reynolds at his Sarasota, Florida home. He’s earned it. Reynolds recently wrapped up a marathon of a tour for his “summer job” as electric guitarist for the incomparable Dave Matthews Band, ending with a three-night run at The Gorge in the state of Washington.

Two weeks from now, he’s pairing up with Matthews as an acoustic duo at Farm Aid in Noblesville, IN before hitting the road in October with his beloved power trio, TR3.

The man doesn’t take too many off days. If he wants to sit by the pool and drink champagne (which he continually pronounced “SHAM-PAWG-NEY” throughout the interview), he’s earned it.

Reynolds is a mad and eccentric genius. Much like my encounters with his summer gig bandleader, Mr. Matthews, I find it difficult to keep Tim on topic and have him answer the questions that are being asked.

“I have a grasp of my own reality and I have Mr. Frog and Mr. Lizard on my front porch that I talk to. That’s why they come back,” Reynolds said, replying to a question I asked about his upcoming performance at Farm Aid. “I have this plant, or my wife has this plant; I can’t remember what it’s called. It’s got these really solid leaves. They’re like cardboard. They’re sturdy. We have Mr. Frog and he’s sleeping in one right now. He’s right there. He likes to hang out. He’s got three other frogs that hang out on the window. I believe that’s his family. He’s been crowded out of his own space. When he was a little frog, he used to hang out here, but then he got big. I think now he gets lonely for me to talk to him. And then, there is Mr. Lizard. Where did you go, Buddy? He kind of jumps the gun a lot. A little lizard can go super fast. Mr. Frog realizes he can just hang out there and I’ll talk kindly to him and he just looks at me with his big frog eyes. It’s the cutest thing.”

Completely lost, I just chuckled to myself. I am talking to one of my all-time favorite guitarists and a member of my all-time favorite band, and here we are…chatting about his conversations with lizards and frogs. I could not love this any more than I do.

Reynolds did get the crazy train back on the rails when asked about the new studio album that he recorded with bandmates Dan Martier (drums) and Mick Vaughn (bass). The upcoming TR3 release will be the first all-acoustic album that Reynolds recorded with TR3.

“We’re not going to release it until the beginning of next year,” Reynolds revealed. “That’s a good time to do that because I’m doing all these other tours right now, and so, it just seems too scattered to try to stick that in the middle as far as something for people to check out. We’ve been playing the music from that ever since we recorded it. It’s just so much fun. It is all acoustic instrumentals that I originally wrote during the COVID lockdown. It’s the most fun and the coolest thing I’ve ever done because I changed it up and just opened myself up to, well, let’s do all these acoustic things with the band. I have to say that it was so satisfying. I’ll probably always do that. You know what I mean? We’ve been playing the music because people, whether they have a reference to it, they’re going to dig it because it’s acoustic instrumental with the band and it’s nothing too weird or too strange. It’s all pretty straightforward and it’s just so much fun to play. I feel the music. It was all written during the lockdown, so I don’t have a vibe. It’s not dark or anything. Some of the songs are the happiest things because that was a necessary thing to have: Happy music in the middle of all that shit!”

While the thrill of playing for 20,000 never gets old, Tim is excited to get back into the intimate venues on his upcoming TR3 tour. It’s a different kind of thrill; a visceral feeling to see fans’ reactions up close and get a sense of the entire room from the stage.

“I love playing those places,” Reynolds confirmed. “The best thing is a rectangular room where everybody is right there and the energy projects forward. Not every club is like that, but that’s the coolest internal geography of a place to play music on this level. I’m still addicted to it, you know what I mean? Obviously, if I’m tired, it’s hard to do it sometimes. And this year, I feel like I’m just going and going and going, but I’m looking forward to that now. I started practicing the music. We have fun doing some covers. I have a couple of new ones I’m going to try if we can. It’s fun to play new stuff that we haven’t played yet and sacrifice a few old tunes for some new ones.”

In the past, most TR3 tours were exclusively performed as an electric power trio. Reynolds, always one to mix things up, has changed the format starting with his 2022 run of TR3 shows. He packs both acoustic and electric guitars in the trailer and treats fans to the best of the best of the worlds.

“That’s what we did the last tour. Instead of being mostly electric with a couple of acoustics, now it’s the other way around. Mostly acoustic; or at least half,” Reynolds said. “I guess given that most nights are 90-minute sets, we play about 16 tunes or so. I’d say about 9 or 10 of those would be acoustic, the number of songs on the new record, which I just kind of feel the need to play that shit. It’s very fun for me. Selfishly, I think it’s fun, but I think people like it, too, because they like acoustic. That’s kind of their reference point to the world, as it were. It’s fun to be doing something that I really like. I know some people will probably like, and it’s not like, well, I’m just doing this. It’s like a real sincere, authentic desire to make that music, and I can feel it still there when I practice this shit by myself. I’m like, ‘Oh yeah, I’m feeling this still.’ That’s important when you play music all the time. There’s nothing worse than not feeling what you’re playing. It’s just dead to me then.”

Amazingly, Reynolds never seems to run short of energy. The lengthy summer tours with DMB would take a toll on any musician. It would be easy for Tim to sit at home in Sarasota and enjoy his winter months relaxing in the Sunshine State. Instead, he is constantly writing, recording, and touring.

“I guess I’m just neurotic enough that I have to do it. I’m sure it’s going to be stressful, sit in the van, whatever clubs, but all that is kind of peripheral stuff for me because when you are on stage and play your own music, and 50 people dig it, that’s enough for me, bro. You know what I’m saying? 100 is even better. I don’t expect much more. We play little clubs. That’s the shit I grew up on. I feel good about staying with my roots. I never really tried to pander to anything so that there would be more people. I mean, I just play rock music, honestly, and I’m lucky I can do it and not have to depend on that for a living.”

Reynolds, one of the most gracious interviewees who has given me time over the years, reminded me that it was a pool day for him and his wife and that he had to get off the phone. I encouraged Tim to do a cannonball to properly start his time at the pool. He promised he would.