Tim Reynolds brought his solo acoustic music to the Ardmore Music Hall on Thursday night!
Tim Reynolds may be best known for his work as lead guitarist for Dave Matthews Band, but Reynolds has a successful solo career as well. We spent our Thursday evening at the Ardmore Music Hall, listening to some amazing acoustic music by Reynolds and some very talented artists.
Keep reading to learn more about the artists and the show!
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THE VENUE – ARDMORE MUSIC HALL
The Ardmore Music Hall is in Ardmore, PA. Ardmore is in the western suburbs of Philadelphia, just about 20 minutes outside the city.
The venue was opened in 1980 as 23 East Cabaret. During that time, it hosted shows by then unknown artists such as Dave Matthews Band, Blues Traveler, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Hootie & the Blowfish. In 1995, the venue changed its name to Brownies 23 East. During that period, mostly cover and local bands played the venue, but it did host some nationally known acts such as Cheap Trick and Los Lobos.
As of 2013, the venue changed names once again to its current name – The Ardmore Music Hall. The venue is independently owned and operated. Chris Perella and Tom Linquist took over bookings for the venue in 2014, and have focused on diversifying the music and events that are held there.
Tip #1: The venue is not operated by Live Nation, so while there is still a fee on tickets, it’s not as much as Ticketmaster. To avoid the fees completely, buy your tickets at the box office. The box office is open Tuesday through Friday from 12 – 5 p.m., or during all public events. Note that if you go to the box office during the day, simply ring the bell on the front door (along Lancaster Avenue), and someone will be out to let you in.
Tip #2: Ardmore has some great little restaurants in the downtown area, which is where the venue is located. We’ve eaten at El Limon several times, which serves great Mexican food. Ardmore is also home to Tired Hands Brewing Company, which is very popular with the craft beer crowd. If you go to the Tired Hands Fermentaria (they have two locations), it’s directly across the street from the venue. You can park at the Fermentaria (you have to pay the meter until 6 pm on weekdays), and just walk to the venue.
Tip #3: If you don’t have time to go somewhere for dinner before the show, the venue also serves food. The menu is limited – snacks and sandwiches – but I’ve eaten there before and the food is good.
Tip #4: As mentioned, Ardmore is in the western suburbs of Philadelphia. There is ample parking in the area. Some of the lots are metered, so be sure to read the signs before parking. There is also parking in the SEPTA lot directly behind the venue. That lot is permit-only during the day, but after 5:00 p.m. the lot is not monitored so you can park there for free. Just don’t leave your car overnight. If you are coming from other areas, you can take SEPTA regional rail. The Ardmore station is just 100 feet away.
Tip #5: The venue has a couple different show arrangements – full general admission, full seated, partial seated, etc. Make sure to understand the seating arrangement for the show you are going to, and buy your tickets accordingly. If you have reserved seating tickets, you get earlier entry into the venue as well.
THE SHOW
TIME RELAPSE
Time Relapse is based out of Philadelphia, and made up of Anthony Procopio (lead guitar, djembe, vocals, drums, bass, keys, production, artwork), Lee Fishman (lead vocals, rhythm guitar, djembe, drums, bass, keys) and Jacob Kadel (drums).
Procopio and Fishman of Time Relapse warming up the crowd for Tim Reynolds.
The band formed when Procopio and Fishman started playing music together at Penn State in late 2010. They rented a house in northwestern PA and spent nine months writing, recording and producing their self-titled debut album – Time Relapse. The album was released in May of 2012.
Time Relapse’s next three albums – “The Figure”, “The Shadow”, and “The Reflection” – are all collages of instrumental set pieces and improvised material. Each track was recorded live in a single take.
Amazingly, Time Relapse has recorded a total of 29 albums in just 5 short years. Their latest – “Through the Dark” – was released in May of 2017.
The band’s influences include Led Zeppelin, Frank Zappa, Dave Matthews Band, Incubus, Pink Floyd, King Crimson, Dispatch and Umphrey’s McGee.
Time Relapse took the stage at 7:30 p.m. It was just Procopio and Fishman in this version of the band. If you are a Dave Matthews Band fan, I would definitely suggest checking these guys out. Their original music has a lot of DMB influence to it.
Dave Matthews Band fans are diehard, and the crowd on this particular night was made up mostly of that fan base, who were there to see Tim Reynolds. Time Relapse took advantage of knowing their audience by doing a really cool cover of DMB’s “Minarets”. Check out the video:
The guys in the band are clearly DMB fans themselves. They talked about the Dave & Tim shows earlier this year at The Mann Center. You can check out my review of the Dave & Tim shows I attended this summer here:
Time Relapse had a lot of fun during their set, and the crowd loved them!
Time Relapse also played a number of their original songs, including one that has become my favorite after playing it on continuous loop on Spotify the last few days – Speaking In Tongues. These guys have a ton of talent. They would be a great opener when DMB goes on tour this summer (hint, hint!).
You can find out more information about the band, their music, and upcoming tour dates on their website at www.timerelapse.com.
CHRISTIE LENEE
Christie Lenee is an extremely talented musician. The music she makes with just a guitar and foot pedal is amazing!
Christie Lenée is a singer-songwriter that started performing at the age of 4. Her career started as the youngest member of the song and dance ensemble – “Entertainment Revue”. Lenée began playing the piano around age 6, and the guitar around age 12. Rather than being trained on the guitar formally, she learned by playing along to her favorite albums by artists like Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, Green Day and Nirvana.
Lenée was accepted to the Blake High School for Performing Arts in Tampa, FL, and initially was planning on focusing on acting. However, after attending her first classical guitar concert, she decided to switch her focus to the guitar. At that point, she started getting extremely serious about honing her skills – practicing up to 8 hours every day.
During Lenée’s senior year of high school, she discovered Dave Matthews and Joni Mitchell, and the acoustic guitar. Her first Dave Matthews concert was a turning point in her life. She was in the front row. Dave looked at her, and when she saw the look on his face of pure joy in what he was doing, she knew she had to start writing her own music.
Lenée attended college at the University of South Florida. During her college years, she recorded 17 live albums and 2 home studio albums. In 2009, she released her first recording studio album – “Set It Free”. She dropped out of school just a few semesters short of completing her double major program, and moved to Philadelphia in order to be closer to NYC.
In 2010, she released the “Acoustic Sessions” album, followed by the EP “Give and Take In” in 2012, which featured Dave Matthews Band member Jeff Coffin on saxophone.
Lenée has won a number of awards during her career, including recently winning the 2017 International Finger Style Guitar Championship. Her latest album – “Stay” – was released in 2016.
Christie took the stage with her guitar at 8:30 p.m. She started her set with two originals, including the title track – Stay – off her latest album.
Christie Lenee had the crowd singing and clapping along with her music!
Next, she asked the crowd to sing along with her, as she covered Tom Petty’s “Free Falling”, which the crowd willingly did! You can see the video here:
Christie even added a little holiday spirit to her set, by doing an instrumental of “Carol of the Bells”.
In between songs, Christie told quite a few stories as she tuned her guitar. She explained that she normally has 8 guitars on stage that are already tuned, but she only had 1 guitar for this show, so she had to keep talking while she was tuning.
Christie played the first instrumental song she wrote, which she explained was the song she played in the final round of the 2017 International Finger Style Guitar Championship. She wrapped up her set with the high energy “We Are One“.
To find out more about Christie Lenée, check out her website at www.christielenee.com.
TIM REYNOLDS
Tim Reynolds has been playing music for over thirty-five years. You can currently find him playing in various formats – with his band TR3, with the Dave Matthews Band, acoustic duo with Dave Matthews, or solo acoustic.
Tim Reynolds performing his solo work at the Ardmore Music Hall on Thursday night.
Reynolds was born in Wiesbaden, Germany to a military family. He moved frequently throughout his youth, starting in Alaska and then moving through most of the Midwest. His family finally settled in St. Louis, MO.
His interest in music started at age 8 when he began taking piano lessons. He quickly switched over to the guitar, however, playing the acoustic guitar and electric bass in the local church gospel band. After leaving high school, he moved away from his conservative roots and settled in Charlottesville, VA, where he started exploring more progressive rock music.
In the mid-80’s, Reynolds formed his group TR3 (Tim Reynolds Trio). He toured with the band throughout most of the ‘80s and ‘90s, with a rotating cast of musicians joining him. It was in the mid-90’s that Reynolds met Dave Matthews.
In the late ‘90s, he decided to disband TR3, move to Santa Fe, NM, and start pursuing a solo acoustic career. He spent the early 2000’s touring as a solo acoustic artist. In 2007, he moved to North Carolina and met bass player Mick Vaughn and drummer Dan Martier. This led to Reynolds reforming TR3 with Vaughn and Martier, and they have been making music and touring ever since.
Reynolds is currently the lead guitarist for Dave Matthews Band. He spent most of 2017 on the road with Dave performing DMB songs as an acoustic duo. Reynolds most recent solo release is “That Way”, and the latest TR3 release is “Like Some Kind of Alien Invasion”.
Reynolds took the stage at 9:31 pm and opened his set with “A Tangled Web We Weave“, followed by “Give Up the Goat“. Both are songs that Reynolds often played during the “Dave & Tim” tour over the summer. You can see and hear “Give Up the Goat” here:
Reynolds played song after song during his set. If you are a DMB fan, you never get to hear Reynolds speak on stage. When you see him solo or with TR3, you get to hear him speak and see some of his personality.
Two fun facts from the show. As we were walking to the venue after having dinner at Tired Hands, we crossed the street and passed a guy all bundled up in a big parka and stocking cap walking down the street. Turns out it was Reynolds, who gave us a quick “hi guys” as we passed. Second fun fact – Reynolds talked about the t-shirt he was wearing, and that it represented the place he was born. One of our friends from Germany had traveled to Las Vegas to see a show, brought the shirt from Germany, and gave it to Reynolds after the show. Very cool to know how he got the shirt!
After playing a little over 2 hours, Reynolds came back on stage for an encore, which included having Christie Lenee play with him. What a great opportunity to see two insanely talented guitarists play together!
Tim Reynolds and Christie Lenee closing out the show together with their amazing guitar work!
Here is the set list from the show. For any of the songs that are links, you can click on them and download the song directly from Amazon.
Set List: A Tangled Web We Weave, Give Up the Goat, Continue, Extraterrestrial Boundaries, And Then They Were Free, Stranger In A Strained Land, Axiom of Maria, Summer Night In December, Rheginos and the Resurrection, Che, Drone Down, Try A Little Harder, Doom, Ode to the Box, Arroyo, Healing Notion, Loose Interpretations, Betrayal, As Far As We Can See, Sinceritox, Just Around the Corner, Man Food, If The Ocean Had Its Way. Encore with Christie Lenee.
For more information on Tim Reynolds, including upcoming tour dates for both solo shows and TR3 shows, check out his website at www.timreynolds.com.
Have questions about seeing a show at The Ardmore Music Hall? Want to know more about Time Relapse, Christie Lennee or Tim Reynolds? Comment below or e-mail me at tips2livebywriter@gmail.com.
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