By MICHAEL ECK, Special to the Times Union
First published in print: Thursday, July 15, 2010

The last time Tim O’Brien was in Albany, in May, he was doing the sideman thing, playing a pile of instruments alongside Mark Knopfler at the Palace Theatre. The time before that — at the Linda in November 2008 — he was performing solo, playing a pile of instruments to back up his own compositions, as well as a few old mountain songs.

Saturday, at his annual Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival appearance, he’ll be leading a band and playing a pile of instruments as he debuts new material from his latest album, “Chicken & Egg,” which dropped on Tuesday.

To say O’Brien is talented is an understatement. He’s working constantly as a much-admired songwriter, singer and instrumentalist.

Grey Fox gives him a chance to display all of those talents, and in a number of contexts.

In addition to his 8:30 p.m. Main Stage show, for example, O’Brien will also be doing a “West Virginia in Song” workshop on the Masters Stage at 5 p.m. with Kathy Mattea (who used O’Brien’s “Walk the Way the Wind Blows” as the title track for her 1986 breakthrough album).

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