Real Time, released in 2000 on O'Brien's Howdy Skies label, pairs Tim O'Brien and Darrell Scott, two of the most gifted singer-songwriter-instrumentalists working at the border of bluegrass, country, and Americana. Recorded with a directness the title suggests — the two trading instruments and harmonies in close, largely unadorned arrangements — the album foregrounds songwriting above all, much of it original and rooted in working-life and mountain themes. O'Brien, the former Hot Rize frontman, and Scott, a formidable guitarist and writer whose songs were by then being cut by major country acts, share an easy musical telepathy, each able to carry a lead or step back into support. The record became a touchstone of the era's acoustic music, admired for its craft and its lack of pretension, and it launched a duo partnership the two would revisit over the years that followed.
Tracklist
- 1 Walk Beside Me 4:14
- 2 With A Memory Like Mine 4:12
- 3 Weary Blues From Waiting 3:19
- 4 A House of Gold alt version 2:14
- 5 More Love 4:06
- 6 There Ain't No Easy Way 4:28
- 7 Little Sadie alt version 3:01
- 8 Helen Of Troy, Pennsylvania 4:16
- 9 Five Rooms 4:06
- 10 Long Time Gone 3:37
- 11 I'm Not Gonna Forget You 4:42
- 12 Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burnin’ alt version 5:47
- 13 The Second Mouse 4:39
