O'Brien Family Band

Riding around to gigs in an RV with kids, what else you gonna do but play board games? The Evergreen-grown bluegrass band developed its own-and wrote some great songs along the way. The group officially rolled out the new CD Friday night at Swallow Hill and hit the road again. You can follow the journey-- they're on their way to Grand Ole Opry, at least in their hearts--using punch-out game pieces and the spinner that comes with the disc. - Denver Post

Music hasn't always been a commodity. Log ago, it was a more collective and intimate art form played with friends, neighbors and relatives -- a tradition that the O'Brien Family Band keeps alive and kicking. Comprising father Dan on guitar, mother Janette on bass and kids Maura and Kyle on guitar, fiddle, mandolin, dobro and banjo, this Evergreen-based quartet has been stirring up a rootsy stew of country, folk, gospel and bluegrass for the past three years. In that time, the O'Briens have crisscrossed the continent, performing at numerous festivals and garnering a slew of accolades, including their recent nomination for a Western Music Association Crescendo Award and even a national prime-time appearance on Trading Spouses last spring. The close-knit clan will celebrate the release of its new disc, The Official O'Brien Family CD and Boardgame, at Swallow Hill Music Hall on Friday, January 6, with opener Liz Masterson and nearly a dozen guest instrumentalists, all on hand to share in the hootenanny. Now, that's real kinfolk. --Jason Heller - Denver Westword

Visiting your favorite CD store can be a daunting experience with so many discs, all the same size and shape, encased in plastic and wrap worthy of military secrets. Many marketing minded artists agonize over ways to separate from the ordinary and create the kind of packaging sure to secure a sale. Evergreen's own O'Brien Family recently unveiled a CD complete with a board game featuring a spinning wheel, standup cutouts of band members and a winding road of concert stops culminatintg at the famed Grand Ole Opry.

"The package design was done by Denver artist Greg Carr," says proud papa Dan O'Brien. "He and his wife, Heather, work together and they come up with amazing work."

O'Brien is also pleased with the sound product produced with his wife, Janette, and remarkably musical offspring, son Kyle, 14 and daughter Maura, 11. "this is our fourth CD and our best so far," he says. "The kids are getting better all the time. Kyle is turning heads on his mandolin and fiddle and Maura steals most shows with her singing, yodeling, and high-energy stage presence." Kyle and Maura were Western Music Association International Youth Yedeling Champions, he in 2003 and she in 2004. "Unfortunately, soon after Kyle recorded his yodeling tunes his voice dropped and his yodel left," says Dan. "Thank goodness we have three fine examples on the CD." Blessed with many friends in and around the community the O'Brien Family were arssisted by some pretty fair performers on the CD including Timothy P. Irvin, John McEuen, John Magnie of the Subdudes and Janis Joplin's sister Laura, who joins Dan on "Burning the Canneries Down." Another highlight is "You're Wearing Out Your Welcome, Matt," bemoaning the lack of romantic interaction on the old TV series, "Gunsmoke." For information, visit www.obrienfamilyband.com - Evergreen Canyon Courier