The Crossing (Alula ALU-1014) was released on 4 May 1999. Tim O’Brien built it around the lines connecting traditional Irish music and the music of the Appalachians, and it was recorded at Trace Sound in Franklin, Tennessee. He began the project with Akira Satake, the founder of Alula, after his contract with Sugar Hill Records ended in 1998. O’Brien is credited as producer and Satake as co-producer, and O’Brien plays mandolin, guitar, bouzouki and fiddle and sings.
The sixteen tracks mix his own writing (“The Crossing,” “Rod McNeil,” “Talkin’ Cavan”) with songs by Danny O’Keefe, Craig Fuller, Guy Clark and Linda and Robin Williams, traditional ballads such as “Down in the Willow Garden” and “John Riley,” and fiddle tunes including “Cumberland Gap” and “Yew Piney Mountain.” The record follows his own family’s path from County Cavan to America. On the Irish side, Frankie Gavin, Ciarán Tourish and Máiréad Ní Mhaonaigh play fiddle, Dermot Byrne accordion, Ronan Browne uilleann pipes and Seamus Egan low whistle and bodhrán. Stuart Duncan, Darrell Scott, Edgar Meyer, Viktor Krauss and Kenny Malone play from Nashville, and Del McCoury and Jeff White sing harmony on the opening songs. Kathy Mattea is credited with vocals and Earl Scruggs is among the guests listed on O’Brien’s own site.
The album was reissued on 1 May 2020.
Tracklist
- 1 Ireland's Green Shore 4:21
- 2 A Mountaineer Is Always Free 3:28
- 3 The Crossing 2:46
- 4 Into the West 4:51
- 5 Wagoner's Lad 4:16
- 6 Down in the Willow Garden Source Recording 4:46
- 7 The Kid on the Mountain 4:51
- 8 Lost Little Children 3:36
- 9 Ireland's Green Shore - Instrumental 2:14
- 10 John Riley 5:00
- 11 Rod McNeil 3:20
- 12 Cumberland Gap alt version 3:06
- 13 Talkin' Cavan 4:26
- 14 The Ribbon In Your Hair 4:15
- 15 Yew Piney Mountain 3:56
- 16 Wandering 4:38
