tom schafer

Saturday, June 21, 2008
Cradle by Tom Schafer

Tom Schafer's CD, Cradle, is a set of Americana rock songs featuring him and his trusty guitar pouring his soul out into the microphone. Lots of songs about being good, being bad and finding your way in between. Highlights for me include "Cradle," "Blood To Blood," and "Sweet Dreams For Brigitte."
Posted by Calvin Powers at 17:52
Labels: review
- Calvin Powers/www.taprootradio.com

On 14-year-old person age got he are first acoustic jet ear and three years later followed a first electric jet ear. The now 44 person whose birthday it is singer-songwriter TOMs Schafer from the American Fort Lauderdale since then already many uurtje have plucked on the snaren of those instruments and used the jet ear as a main means to compose songs. Eleven of these composities on its debuutplaat Cradle has now ended up which he produced in own management and brought out. With much attention to the beautiful songteksten and feeling and audible passie in jet arse gitaarspel and song work
TOMs Schafer have delivered a very deserving performance. During seven years he wrote songs concerning the things which him was dear: living, the belief and the confidence, its woman, its zoon and its for the. Musical the songs on Cradle are reduce generally to minimalistische, acoustic jet ear and song numbers. Because of this you can give all attention as a auditor onafgeleid on the contents and the message of the songteksten. To be musical heroes are Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Santana and Stevie Ray Vaughan and influences from them
music is present partially interweaves in its own numbers. On its Internet site TOMs Schafer give text and explanation at each song which we can listen to on Cradle. Aim of it is the auditor the correct sfeerzetting give so that you can understand about which the song goes and for which he has written this number. Sweet Lullabyes also concern this way beautiful of love but wise on the stings which can emerge also in a relation. Recovers Kross By The Road concerning the feelings and the sorrow of parents who have lost their child. In the very beautiful number lays Blood To Blood he to its zoontje Matthew from how important the blood link between the different generations is and how we end up all in the same small boat of the lives. Afterwards he brings also a song for its dochtertje: Sweet Dreams For Brigitte. Also is Braziliaanse woman becomes does not forget because to her he dedicates the song Sweet Lady. Finally there are still This Little Prayer For Gigi that written became for its mother. Also 9/11 reason to a number for the deads and the survivors of those terrible attacks in New York gives: Ashes Fall From The Sky. And then there are numbers still some concerning the belief: Cradle Ain t That A Shame and `Treat me So prayed. This is an album with blues, folk and countrysongs, brought on lived through manner by a passionate zanger who by its roughly scouring and ietwat nasal voice consonance and by its aware choice for exclusively a prerecording based on acoustic jet ear a lot connect narrow at the boasted Nebraska - plate of his master voice and musical example Bruce Springsteen. That lets be especially a towering compliment for TOMs Schafer which what concerns us immediately to a continuator for Cradle can work will.

- Rootstime.be/ Valsam ( Belgium )

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More Info: Tom Schafer
Cradle
Broken Watch Records
June 2007
www.tomschafermusic.com

Tom Schafer’s album Cradle is aptly named. Shafer’s rough, redneck lullabies are like little pickup trucks full of down-home comfort that drive straight up to the porches of your ears and unload their vibe right into your brain. They are deep South, although Schafer himself hails from Miami Beach.

These songs are about blood and dirt and tears and sadness, and also about love, both tragic and the other kind. To me, the whole album feels country: not new county, with its comic songs and near-rock catchiness, but old country, that is slow, sad and real. However, Schafer considers himself a blues/rock/folk artist.

Regardless of his genre, Schafer is a solid new voice on the music scene. Check out this album if you want the kind of heartbreak music that lifts you up while it’s bringing you down.

Favorite Track: “Blood to Blood”

- www.onlinerock.com(Review by Kris Larson)

Tom Schafer is New York City born but currently resides in Cooper, Florida. He's an Americana/Blues singer/songwriter with a penchant for Springsteen-esque lyrics and presentation. His album, Cradle, is full of pragmatic, working class observations about love, life, faith and the illusions we gird ourselves in. His music has been played on the airwaves in Florida, on various stations around the US and as far away as Paris, France.

Schafer opens with the title track, a rollicking bit of acoustic Rhythm & Blues with some blistering guitar work. Schafer has a down home, comfortable voice; a bit gruff on the edges but an everyman's voice that fits perfectly in the songs presented here. At seven-plus minutes, Sweet Lullabies overstays it's welcome by a good three. It's not a bad song - it's all about finding someone; it's just done in such deliberate fashion that you'll find yourself reaching for the skip button. Kross By The Road runs into similar difficulty, clocking in over eight minutes in length. The song explores the sorrow, loss and elements of faith of an unexpected tragedy. Schafer runs around his subjects almost endlessly, settling closer and closer to the heart of the matter with each go-round. His stories unravel like an onion is peeled; tiny later by tiny layer. For the listener this is a mixed blessing. Just as brevity is the soul of wit, it's also the key, at times, to a positive listening experience.

Schafer gets pensive on Sweet Dreams For Brigitte, a sleepy but inspired bit of jazz guitar noodling that turns into an ode to William Ackerman without the funky guitar tunings. It's an unstructured tune, sounding perhaps improvised at times, but Schafer returns to the jazz foreground where he started out and ties it all up quite nicely. Schafer heads off on another epic composition with Ain't That A Shame. It's a quasi-free form guitar experience with a bit of an Elvis Presley vibrato in the vocal. At six-plus minutes this one becomes a difficult listen. In the midst of all of this creative over-exertion comes two-and-a-half minutes of musical magic in Sweet Lady. Schafer finds the perfect mix of words, brevity and melody in a love song for the ages. Treat Me So Bad is built around some impressive blues guitar work. Lyrically the song is a bit difficult to follow, but musically it's top notch. We get a taste of Schafer's live sound on Knife Hangs On The Fence; a sound that doesn't vary significantly from his studio sound. This actually isn't a bad song, but you'll spend a lot of time trying to figure out just what, exactly, he's singing. Cradle ends with This Little Prayer For Gigi, a solo guitar piece that flows with the slow and deliberate nature of a nascent stream. It's pretty but that's really about all that can be said.

Tom Schafer is, above all other things, a talented guitar player. He can create musical tapestries with six strings that are entrancing, but he also is restricted by his lack of limitations and boundaries. Cradle is all Schafer all the time, and the end result is a highly insular recording that can feel exclusive even to the listener. Schafer is in his own world, musically, creating whatever he wants whenever he wants, but often becomes so bogged down in his creative need that he doesn't seem to know to get himself out. Consequently many of the songs here go on long after they've exhausted their contextual or musical message. Vocally, Schafer is interesting to listen to. It's not a pretty voice, but one you can enjoy; but lyrically he can tend to get repetitive and unfocused and dance around a subject long after the listener's interest has waned. Cradle is an album with some strong qualities and some strong liabilities. There's a lot here for the taking; it's a question of whether you are willing to wade through the rest. Those who enjoy free-form guitar play will definitely enjoy Schafer's instrumental aspect.

Rating: 2.5 Stars (Out of 5)

- Wildy Haskell

Tom Schafer: Cradle - Indie Music Review

By Susanna Rasmussen, HOT INDIE NEWS .com

Date Published: July 26, 2007


A simple, well-played guitar pairs up nicely with Tom Schafer’s honest lyrics to create a pleasant, nostalgic feel on this album. His grizzly often powerful voice manages to have a smooth timbre and good tonality throughout, which makes this folk singer’s work feel both raw and legit.

His first track is reminiscent of a blues track with his solid chord progression makes a nice base on which he builds to show off his soulful, impressive range. This song also features some solid guitar solos, with a bit of call-and-response between the vocals and guitar working its way in towards the middle and through the end to wrap up the song.

His tune ‘Sweet Lullabyes’ is sweet and pleasant but a little loud and busy for a true lullaby (in fact, I felt much more soothed during the tracks ‘Kross by the Road’ or ‘Sweet dreams for Brigette’ and ‘This Little Prayer for Gigi’ all of which are considerably softer and simpler). Schafer’s sound is consistently reminiscent and a bit melancholy so the ‘lullaby’ track does work, if it may have a somewhat misleading title.

This album is actually surprisingly broad and is full of allusions- though the sound has a similar consistency throughout- especially when he includes blues progressions, ‘Aint that a shame’ and even a few bars of jingle bells to finish up the track ‘Sweet dreams for Brigitte’ one of the most melancholy tune on the album. These worked because they were tucked in discretely as to not upset the main feel of the album.

His work wraps up with a few tracks whose mellowness makes you yearn for solitude and open spaces. I found ‘Ashes that Fall From the Sky’ and ‘This Little Prayer for Gigi’ offered up a nice escape from our heavily layered, quick, sound saturated world. But perhaps my favorite was ‘Sweet Lady” where the listener expressly hears what is hinted at throughout the whole work: that this man is singing with both honesty and a purpose.


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MORE INFORMATION
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http://www.tomschafermusic.com



- www.hotindienews.com