Backstage at DelFest: Tim O’Brien and Jan Fabricius Reflect on Love and Creativity with Paper Flowers

Photos by Dan Rozman

Fresh off their DelFest 2025 Grandstand stage performance, Tim O’Brien and Jan Fabricius were glowing as they sat down to discuss their new album “Paper Flowers.” The energy from their set still radiating between them, the duo was clearly excited to talk about what represents a major milestone in their musical partnership.

“This is really our statement as a couple, as a performing unit,” Tim explained. “We’ve been playing together for seven or eight years now, and people know my name, but they don’t know Jan’s. She’s been right there alongside me on stage this whole time.”

Their musical relationship began in 2011 when they started dating, though serious collaboration started after Jan moved to Nashville in 2013. A registered nurse from Kansas, Jan took what Tim calls “a crash course in the music business” as she became his tour manager. “Jan started adding harmony vocals and mandolin to shows and recordings soon after we became a couple,” Tim explained. “We would play music around the house, and she would learn new songs as I wrote them. Then soon enough, we started writing together.”

The challenge of being both romantic and creative partners could complicate things, but Tim and Jan have found their rhythm. They focus on finding common ground and writing about subjects that feel authentic to both of them. Their inspiration comes from everywhere – everyday conversations, stories they hear on the road, even random observations like the weather woman they saw on TV, who sparked an idea that Junior Sisk later recorded.

Their songwriting process reflects this organic approach. The couple maintains a standing Wednesday appointment to write with folk legend Tom Paxton, which began in 2023 when they contributed to “Bluegrass Sings Paxton.” The weekly Zoom sessions proved so productive that “we’ve got 29 pretty good songs,” Jan noted with obvious pride. During one session, Tim was playing around with a musical riff when Tom remarked it sounded like “a fat pile of puppies.” That random comment became a song about fear of commitment. “We sort of followed our nose into that song, and it became a song about fear of commitment, fear of falling in love,” Tim explained.

What makes “Paper Flowers” particularly special is how intentional they were about showcasing their partnership. They deliberately wrote songs that would allow Jan to take lead vocals on some tracks while letting them trade verses on others. “Hungry Heart,” released as a single around Mother’s Day, explores mothers caring for children while their husbands work away from home. The song captures a time when long-distance phone calls were expensive and important, with Tim and Jan singing the parts of siblings waiting for their father’s weekly call.

Another standout track, “This Gal of Mine,” has them portraying a bickering married couple. The concept originated when Tom Paxton said he’d always wanted to write about a man who loves his wife but constantly complains about her. After they wrote the husband’s perspective, Jan had a different idea. “We listened to the demo, and I said, I need a rebuttal,” she recalled. “So Tim and I sat and wrote the part that I sing, and some of that is true, and some of it’s not.”

The album’s production marks a departure from their typical stripped-down duo performances. Instead of just mandolin and guitar, they brought in bass, fiddle, piano, and drums. “I love playing with a bigger sound,” Tim said. “There’s some western swing kind of feels, and it tickles me to hear the piano and the drums and everything.” They perform live both as a duo and with a band that includes bassist Mike Bub and fiddler Shad Cobb.

In a testament to their creative momentum, Tim and Jan actually completed the album and then wrote two additional songs they liked so much, they returned to the studio to record them. One of those late additions, “Paper Flowers,” became the title track and shifted the entire project’s direction.

Tim was generous in crediting the Nashville recording community. “There’s a team of people in Nashville that I’ve worked with in the studio,” he emphasized. “Sean Sullivan is the guy who recorded this and mixed this.” Tim traced this musical lineage back to Cowboy Jack Clement, “the guy that pushed the red button when Jerry Lee Lewis was ready to sing ‘Great Balls of Fire.'” The session musicians brought their experience working with different artists daily. “The sidemen are used to playing with a different artist every day in a studio, and they get to the meat of the matter really quickly,” Tim noted.

After more than a decade of building something together, “Paper Flowers” finally captures what audiences have been experiencing all along – a genuine musical partnership between two people who’ve found their creative voice together.

The next chance to see Tim O’Brien with Jan Fabricius in the DC area will be on Sunday, August 17, 2025 when they perform in Annapolis, Maryland at Rams Head On Stage