Tim Reynolds Live at The Chance

By Clint Iacovone, Contributing Writer

As the lights dimmed, a crowd of approximately 400 fans began chanting "Timmy," praising the guitar legend. Tim Reynolds, born in Weisbaden, Germany, spent most of his childhood moving from Alaska to St. Louis experimenting with psychedelic rock and abstract acoustic driven music throughout his lifetime.

With a handful of solo LP's such as "Petroglyph," in 2002 and a lifetime of collaborations, Reynolds has had a rollercoaster of success in the mainstream and underground music world, but Reynolds immerged within the mainstream because of his affiliation with singer Dave Matthews.

With the 1999 release of Matthews and Reynolds playing at Luther College, the most diehard DMB fans developed a cult following for Reynolds' god-like guitar skills and have been following his career ever since. Reynolds, when playing with Matthews, incorporates his skill of guitar playing with Matthew's uncanny ear for melody and tunes, such as in the radio hit "Ants Marching." Reynolds indulges within a level of musical complexity that can rarely be heard.

Presently residing in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Reynolds, for one highly anticipated night, held residence at the Chance in Poughkeepsie. Standing quietly on stage, Reynolds was encompassed by a handful of guitars, amplifiers, keyboards, guitar pedals, and a white screen that projected images of Ghandi, the Salt March and Budhist symbolism that coincided perfectly with the divine instrumental accoustic sounds that seemed to captivate every individual in the theatre. Using guitar effects and ununique guitar skills to act as bass, percussion, melody and rhythm all at once. Reynolds painted a picture for the astonished listeners. The opening material was a spiritual journey in which he was totally engulfed in every song, which stood flawless on their own.

Vocal accompaniment was unnecessary because his guitar seemed to speak to the audience. As the set progressed, the mood of the music drastically changed.

Reynolds started using cliché electric guitar riffs over bleeps of synthesizer and drum machines. When Reynolds did sing, he was mediocre at best.

The robotic songs made even the strongest Matthews supporters lose interest because the finger picking mystical music was shadowed by borderline electronica music.

Reynolds' world travels reflect in his music well and aside from a few tangents of soulless electric guitar work, his instrumental work was a force to be reckoned with that even made Dave stand up and take notice.