Mollie O'brien

The older sister of Hot Rize member Tim, bluegrass performer Mollie O'Brien grew up in Wheeling, West Virginia, where during high school she and her brother teamed up as a folk duo. After studying voice in college, O'Brien moved to New York City, where she worked as a buyer for the garment industry. In 1980, inspired by Tim's success in Hot Rize, she joined him in Colorado, where she became a fixture on the R&B and jazz club circuits. In 1984, the O'Brien siblings reunited for a Mother's Day concert, and four years later, they recorded a duets album, Take Me Back. Concurrently, O'Brien continued her solo career, issuing her debut LP, I Never Move Too Soon, in 1987. She also joined with the group the Mother Folkers for 1989's Live at the Arvada Center. In the decade that followed, O'Brien continued to divide her time between solo and duo work, releasing her Everynight in the Week in 1990 and rejoining Tim two years later for Remember Me. Another duet collection, Away Out on the Mountain, appeared in 1994, and in 1996, O'Brien issued the solo effort Tell It True. Big Red Sun Blues followed two years later, and Things I Gave Away was issued in 2000. In 2001 she became a regular performer on Garrison Keillor's nationally syndicated NPR radio show A Prairie Home Companion, O'Brian began performing and touring with her husband, singer and guitarist Rich Moore, in 2006, a tour that was document on the 2007 album 900 Baseline. The couple's sophomore release followed in 2014, when Love Runner arrived featuring original material along with songs from Randy Newman, Tom Paxton, Chris Smither, and others.