RIDGEFIELD — What other musicians — or anybody — would regard as being too busy, even during 2020’s summer of COVID, is not busy enough for guitarist and songwriter Tim Reynolds.

The talented Dave Matthews and Dave Matthews Band sideman recently told The Newtown Bee he was often bothered that there was so little to do during the slowdowns and shutdowns imposed during the height of the pandemic.

That conversation unfolded a couple of weeks ahead of Reynolds doing a rare solo show June 18 at Ridgefield Playhouse. That 7:30 pm show will be held outdoors in the Playhouse’s spacious tent.

Looking at the musician’s website and social pages, fans and curious newcomers just discovering Reynolds as a soloist and band leader of a power trio aptly named TR3, will discover that no moss grew on him during 2020 or so far this year.

As far as Reynolds is concerned, pulling up stakes for a few weeks to tour with the Dave Matthews Band this summer and fall will not be enough to shake off the relatively busy period of “inactivity” he has endured up to now.

“Getting to play real gigs again is going to be great,” he said, echoing the sentiments of so many musicians and support crew members who are shaping up or already executing early stage tour plans.

“It’s going to be different with safety precautions — I just hope we don’t see another surge," Reynolds added. "I feel bad for some of these countries that are really suffering right now, but I say gather up all the vaccines from people who don’t want them here, and send them to where they are needed."

Whether touring with TR3, DMB, or with Matthews as an acoustic duo, Reynolds’s wide-ranging musical versatility is evident each time he picks up his acoustic or electric guitar. Technically brilliant, yet emotionally honest, Reynolds’s music is inspired and authentic.

He is known for his masterful command of melody and timing and for his uncanny ability to improvise on any instrument he touches, having explored most musical styles, from rock, jazz, and blues to classical and reggae.

Reynolds told The Bee his audience June 18 is in for a sampling from his vast catalog of solo creations and covers. But the conversation started out, naturally, talking about how Reynolds spent his COVID year off.

The Newtown Bee: As I went looking for things to talk about, I stumbled across, like, 100 new videos it looks like you created since COVID hit big time in early 2020. So I'm guessing that's how you spent most of your COVID vacation.

Tim Reynolds: At the beginning of the pandemic, I felt everything was going at such a slow pace, but the people around me, my wife and my musical partners, said maybe it’s time to look at my social media formula. I’m used to being out on the road and coming home and having time off was a regularly rotating thing, sometimes having a week or two off to chill. But then sitting at home for a couple of months, just tryin' to stay healthy, work out, go for walks... it became my job doing all that social network stuff. And the whole time it seemed like I was working a lot harder than when I was on the road. (laughing) All I was doing was looking at myself for hours and hours — and making those recordings and videos as musically and stylistically perfect as possible — well, it became something like — well, I'll use the word obsession. I became obsessed with trying to make them not suck.

TNB: I imagined you just turned on the camera, blew off one take, and put it up — but I guess that's not the way it went.

Reynolds: The more I did it, the more I said, ‘Man, I [expletive] up here and [expletive] up there,’ and to finish one song, I would do 20 [takes], most of them three seconds long before I’d go, ‘Oh [expletive]!’ And I was just going through that process to the point where I just couldn’t watch myself any more. Sure, I never play anything perfect on stage, but I guess I notice it way more when I’m trying to make a video. So I got to the point where I just made a bunch of videos of the same song or two, and I’d pick the one or two I could live with.

TNB: So how are you structuring your setlist for the show we're going to see in Ridgefield?

Reynolds: Because I spent last year relearning all these songs from each of my CDs, I think each night I’m going to pick out a couple from each project and mix them in with the ten new tracks I put out on YouTube that I’ll be happy to play, as well. I made a lot of records with solo acoustic tunes on them, so I’ll draw from those. I’m psyched to be drawing from so much more of the repertoire, as it were, because over the years you tend to want to do what you just did. And I like playing these because they’re much more full songs instead of clips of crazy guitar playing. I know a lot of people really dig that element of the show as well, so I'll keep doing some of that, too.

TNB: Do you think having all that extended time for woodshedding has been good for you? Did you come at the end of all this a better player?

Reynolds: Oh, I think so. Just practicing all the music and relearning all these songs I forgot over the years will be great when it comes time to figuring out what's gonna work best for these gigs. Now I'll have a whole bunch of music to draw from. And I feel like I'm playing better because I went on several different tangents this year from a technical playing point. There were things I wanted to do better, and I can tell now I do some of those things better. I'm not trying to change the whole paradigm of my playing — just trying to get better at what I do. And to be honest, at this point I'm just addicted to the expression of it. I know I can ... emote music, so it's not about being so technically perfect. Sometimes music gives you something, sometimes it's only one note, and it feels so good.

TNB: Kind of like some of the stuff you came up with for Venus Transit, right?

Reynolds: Yeah. Venus Transit was something I recorded about 15 years ago, and I just sort of sat on it. It's kind of ambient, not a jumpin' out at you kind of album. I've mentioned it to a manager here and there but earlier this year, when I thought of all the things I had in the vault, that was the most different one — and the most calming. I think now is the right time for that kind of internal music. You know back in the early part of the pandemic, Trent Reznor [Nine Inch Nails] released an ambient record that became my yoga CD. It's very spacey, nothing like None Inch Nails. It's a lot more like his movie soundtracks, and I thought, man, I'm really diggin' his spacey material, I want everybody to hear MY spacey music. It's not rock and roll, but it's got a good vibe.

TNB: You've also challenged yourself by trying to master a couple from the great classical composers. You're playing Bach's Cello Suite in G?

Reynolds: Yeah, I learned that many ears ago and I've always been timid about playing it live because I always felt like I'd mess it up. So I was playing this classical guitar that I've had for many years but don't really play a lot. It makes my fingers spoiled for the steel string [guitars]. But I played it a bunch this summer and discovered that I always thought it was harder switching from classical to the dreadnoughts. But after playing that for a couple months and switching back, even though the steel strings are harder, the neck is so much thinner. So I was playing the Bach on the classical and it was nearly impossible, but with the thinner neck it was a lot easier so I got more confident. I also learned this Beethoven Moonlight Sonata that I've been daring myself to play — I've been working on it since last June. And it's not really flashy music, it's really dreamy and dark like Radiohead, but it's the hardest thing I ever learned trying to replicate the piano arpeggios it's so cool. And even though I never played it out, that song to me is the soundtrack to my pandemic year...

For more information or to purchase print-at-home tickets for Tim Reynolds' Ridgefield show ($42.50-$55) go to ridgefieldplayhouse.org, call the box office at 203-438-5795, or visit The Playhouse at 80 East Ridge Road.

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Associate Editor John Voket can be reached at john@thebee.com.

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