Tom Corbett
Woodland Hills, California, United States | INDIE
Music
Press
TOM CORBETT
Tonight I ride
(Round Hole RHR 51263)
* * * * *
La pochette est trompeuse et pourrait laisser croire à un CD de ballades western. Mais cet album est d’un style très éclectique.
S’il y a bien des ballades western folk, pour lesquelles Tom manifeste un sens inné de la narration et de la mélodie (la poignante ”Still hear her crying”), on y trouve aussi trois instrumentaux, de la danse carrée, une reprise plus lente que les versions usuelles de ”Is
anybody goin'to San Antone”, à laquelle il donne un parfum reggae, du son Bakersfield (il n’est pas californien pour rien) sur
”Tonight I ride”, de l’Americana ou du western swing (excellent ”Welcome to Tom's place”). De plus, c’est la première fois que j’entends un mélange bluegrass / tex sur certains morceaux,
”Here comes the border”, ”Doce de mayo”. Il fallait y penser. L'ensemble est de très bon aloi.
Bernard Boyat - Le Cri Coyote
Tom Corbett – Tonight I Ride
Posted on January 21, 2011 by Dan Harr
by Chuck Dauphin
You know how some artists are easy to fit in a neat little box? One thing is for sure—-Tom Corbett is not one of those. On this album, there are many musical styles represented. There’s a little bit of the Old West, a little Bluegrass, a little Jazz!
Along the way, Corbett has surrounded himself with some all-star talent that helps to make this album a delight to the ears. Bill Knopf’s banjo licks help get the opener, “Here Comes The Border” off the ground, along with some great harmony from The Desert Rose Band’s Herb Pedersen. Jonathan McEuen adds some nice vocals to the light-hearted “Love Me One More Time,” which is one of the highlights of the album.
There’s some Jazz and some Western Swing sounds to be heard on “Welcome To Tom’s Place,” which also includes some sterling harmonica work from Tom Ball. The old-timey sounding “Grandpa Sittin’ On The Front Porch” is a highlight, as well as the Ragtime-ish “Middle Of Nowhere,” which sounds like it would be right at home on Bourbon Street on a Saturday night.
There’s many different kinds of musical styles here, and Corbett and Co. handle each of them with relative ease. If you are a listener that doesn’t discriminate against various styles, I think you will love this album!
For more about Tom or to buy This CD, visit http://tomcorbett.net/
- Music News Nashville
TOM CORBETT
Tonight I Ride
Roundhole 51263
Few musicians can pull off in the studio
the kind of live joy this album exudes.
You just have to listen to track eight, “Welcome
to Tom’s Place,” where all the musicians
have first names of Tom. But it’s not
just for yuks. The Toms include world-class
musicians Tom Sauber and Tom Rozum.
The theme of this, Corbett’s third solo album,
is the American West, but it’s the west
with a twist. The title cut, for instance, was
written about a German pulp writer of westerns
who never visited the American West.
It works as cowboy song, but knowing the
background makes it even richer. And that’s
what works on every cut of this album. It not
only bears repeated listening, the experience
gets richer and deeper each time.
The guest artists here are impressive,
but not gratuitous. Corbett brings in Herb
Pederson and Bill Bryson to sing on “Ease
on Down the River,” and Nina Gerber and
Los Lobos percussionist Victor Besetti are
used to their greatest advantage. There’s
Tex-Mex, country, bluegrass, and old-time
here, with eleven of the songs written by
Corbett. The one cover, “Is Anybody Goin’
to San Antone,” is the best version I’ve heard
since Charley Pride’s. The whole project is
masterfully engineered by David West.
Corbett’s voice is reminiscent of Jimmy
Buffett, with a kind of relaxed intimacy that
makes you want to kick back in the passenger
seat and go on a long road trip across
the Mojave. With Tom Corbett driving on
these songs, you’ll have a great time. — CS
- Sing Out
TOM CORBETT
Tonight I Ride
Roundhole 51263
Few musicians can pull off in the studio
the kind of live joy this album exudes.
You just have to listen to track eight, “Welcome
to Tom’s Place,” where all the musicians
have first names of Tom. But it’s not
just for yuks. The Toms include world-class
musicians Tom Sauber and Tom Rozum.
The theme of this, Corbett’s third solo album,
is the American West, but it’s the west
with a twist. The title cut, for instance, was
written about a German pulp writer of westerns
who never visited the American West.
It works as cowboy song, but knowing the
background makes it even richer. And that’s
what works on every cut of this album. It not
only bears repeated listening, the experience
gets richer and deeper each time.
The guest artists here are impressive,
but not gratuitous. Corbett brings in Herb
Pederson and Bill Bryson to sing on “Ease
on Down the River,” and Nina Gerber and
Los Lobos percussionist Victor Besetti are
used to their greatest advantage. There’s
Tex-Mex, country, bluegrass, and old-time
here, with eleven of the songs written by
Corbett. The one cover, “Is Anybody Goin’
to San Antone,” is the best version I’ve heard
since Charley Pride’s. The whole project is
masterfully engineered by David West.
Corbett’s voice is reminiscent of Jimmy
Buffett, with a kind of relaxed intimacy that
makes you want to kick back in the passenger
seat and go on a long road trip across
the Mojave. With Tom Corbett driving on
these songs, you’ll have a great time. — CS
- Sing Out
De traditional “Is Anybody Goin’ To San Antone” van Charlie Pride uit 1970 is de enige coversong op het nieuwe en derde album “Tonight I Ride” van mandolinespeler en gitarist Tom Corbett. Zijn vorige twee platen “Upstairs At Charlie’s” uit 2001 en “Cloudless Blue Sky” uit 2004 werden nog als conceptalbums gereleased maar met deze nieuweling koos hij er voor om uitsluitend songs met een westerntintje te schrijven en op te nemen.
Er is geen enkele fret op een snareninstrument die nog geheimen heeft voor deze virtuoos op dergelijke instrumenten. Op de hoes van deze cd geeft hij een opsomming van alle instrumenten die hij bespeeld heeft voor de opnamen en dat zijn er meer dan twintig verschillende met oude banjo’s, mandolines, gitaren, basgitaren en violen. De productie van dit album nam hij overigens ook al zelf voor zijn rekening.
Toch heeft Tom Corbett een indrukwekkend gastenlijstje verzameld om hem in de studio bij te staan, o.a. bluegrasslegendes Herb Pedersen en Bill Bryson, gitariste Nina Gerber (van ‘Kate Wolf’) en twee uitstekende vocalisten met Claire Holley en Jonathan McEuen (van ‘The Dirt Band’). Voor wie van dit soort muziek houdt is “Tonight I Ride” een pareltje met zeer mooi verzorgde nummers.
Daarbij gaat onze voorkeur uit naar o.a. de met Claire Holley in duet gezongen ballad “Still Hear Her Crying”, de titeltrack “Tonight I Ride” en het al in 1994 voor het eerst met zijn toenmalige band ‘The Acousticats’ opgenomen nummer “Ease On Down The River”. De hardwerkende cowboy wordt ruim in de bloemetjes gezet in het liedje “17 Miles A Day” en de bluegrass-swing rijst ten top in het amusante “Middle Of Nowhere”.
Het virtuoos op mandoline gespeelde instrumentale nummer “Flip Flop Flingers” en de instrumentale Tex-Mex polka en cd-afsluiter “Doce De Mayo” die net als “Is Anybody Goin’ To San Antone” samen met Victor Bessetti - percussionist van Los Lobos - op drums en gitarist Lorenzo Martinez en accordeonist Otono Lujan van de formatie ‘Conjunto Los Pochos’ worden gespeeld zijn schitterende diamanten aan de kroon van deze Tom Corbett.
Wat vooral opvalt bij de beluistering van deze cd is de gezellige warmte die van al de nummers uitgaat en het duidelijk waarneembare plezier dat deze muzikanten hebben gehad aan het samen spelen van deze tracks voor Tom Corbett’s album ‘Tonight I Ride”. Binnen zijn genre is deze plaat dan ook zeer aanbevelenswaardig en daarom doen wij onze cowboyhoed daar dan ook eerbiedwaardig voor af. (valsam)
"The most amazing sensation experienced when listening to 'Tonight I Ride', the magnificent 3rd album of Tom Corbett is the joyful warmth and honesty exposed by each and every song, next to the noticable pleasure of all musicians contributing to this record. Our favorites are the mandoline-instrumental 'Flip Flop Numbers' and the accordeon driven Tex-Mex polka 'Doce De Mayo', next to the excellent cover of Charlie Pride's classic 'Is Anybody Goin' To San Antone' and the beautiful ballad 'Still Hear Her Crying" in duet with Claire Holley. A real 'must-have' album." - www.rootstime.be
- www.rootstime.be
Tonight I Ride
Tom Corbett
44.42
Roundhole
RHR 51283
Tom Corbett was born with a name sure to evoke memories of an intergalactic
American future with listeners of a certain age, but he has no relation to
the fictional Tom Corbett, Space Cadet. This Corbett is a mandolin player
well known on the West Coast bluegrass, newgrass, swing and alt-folk scene.
He’s been playing mandolin since he was 11, and has contributed his picking
expertise to the String Wizards, John McEuen’s post-Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
group and the acoustic solo album of Mike Ness (Social Distortion.) On
Tonight I Ride, Corbett covers a lot of ground and shows off his chops in a
variety of musical settings. “Welcome To Tom's Place” is a spry bit of jazzy
Texas swing with a winning lyric and first-rate playing from a band of Toms
- Tom Rozum on second mandolin, fiddler Tom Sauber, Tom Lee on bass, drummer
Tom Lackner and Tom Ball playing harmonica in a style the suggests a muted
trumpet. “Still Hear Her Crying” is a folky railroad tune about an engineer
that meets an untimely end and the woman who loves him. The song sounds like
it could have been written a hundred years ago or yesterday. The title track
is a prison song with a stomping Waylon Jennings-like beat and a
surprisingly upbeat lyric. David West’s electric guitar makes the tune’s
message of hope soar. “Love Me One More Time” is a humorous bluegrass tune
about the end of a relationship that includes delicious references to all
the good food the singer’s ex used to make, while Corbett channels Towns Van
Zandt on “17 Miles A Day,” a brooding, mysterious ballad full of ominous
images. There are two stellar instrumentals too. “Flip Flop Flingers” is a
playful romp driven by a simple repeated melodic figure that’ll stick in
your mind after a single listen with guitarist Mike Mullins trading snappy
solos with Corbett’s mandolin and “Doce de Mayo,” a lilting Tex-Mex polka.
With the exception of a twang heavy version of the Charlie pride hit “Is
Anybody Going To San Antone,” everything on the album was written by
Corbett. With songwriting chops this good, and his warm, pure country
vocals, he should soon be moving to the forefront of California’s
singer/songwriter scene.
from J. Poet on AllMusic.com - from J. Poet on AllMusic.com
Discography
Tom Corbett Upstairs at Charlie’s
Tom Corbett Cloudless Blue Sky
Tom Corbett Tonight I Ride
Photos
Bio
~ TOM CORBETT ~
Summer 2010
Stories and snapshots. That’s the essence of widely respected mandolinist/guitarist Tom Corbett’s new album Tonight I Ride: open-hearted stories and fond snapshots of characters and scenes from the American West — some real, some imagined, all sensitively rendered by Corbett’s soulful fretwork and other sublimely musical players who number among the West Coast’s finest acoustic artists, including bluegrass legends Herb Pedersen and Bill Bryson, Los Lobos percussionist Victor Besetti, guitar goddess Nina Gerber, renowned singer-songwriter Claire Holley, vocalist extraordinaire Jonathan McEuen, bassist Randy Tico and acoustic blues duo Tom Ball & Kenny Sultan.
Tonight I Ride is Corbett’s third album (following 2001’s Upstairs at Charlie’s and 2004’s Cloudless Blue Sky). It isn’t a concept project, but it came together after Corbett realized he was writing a number of songs “with a Western bent to them.”
“To me, that’s where this record’s coming from,” he says. “Even though I was born in the Midwest, in Omaha, and grew up a college professor’s son in Ohio, I love the stories of the West and that physical place of the West — not just California, but also Wyoming, Colorado, places like that. ‘17 Miles a Day’ is about the pioneers. They had four months to come across the country, from the end of the April rains to the snows in September, so they had to travel 17 miles a day on average to get where they needed to go. Those that didn’t,” he adds with a chuckle, “became the Donner Party.”
The melodic “Tonight I Ride” was birthed in Berlin, of all places, after an illuminating trip to the Checkpoint Charlie Museum, which showed how East Germans once tried to escape from behind the Berlin Wall. An acquaintance there talked about a German writer who wrote hugely popular books about the American West — which he’d never once visited. The combination of the museum’s exhibits and the story of the German writer inspired Corbett to pen a key line: “I may never have touched the ground of freedom but tonight I ride.” The song started as an acoustic piece, until guitarist David West added Telecaster and drums. “That changed the whole feel of the tune,” Corbett recalls, “and it ended up being the title cut.”
Elsewhere, the sprightly cowboy-bluegrass romp “Here Comes the Border” segues into an accordion-driven cover of David Kirby and Glenn Martin’s “Is Anybody Goin’ to San Antone.” Claire Holley’s sweet soprano highlights the poignancy of “Still Hear Her Crying,” while pianist/trumpeter David Bourne gives “Middle of Nowhere” a ragtimey saloon feel. “Welcome to Tom’s Place” celebrates the simple pleasures of fishing and friendship with some gleeful picking by Corbett and a posse of fellow Toms: Ball (harmonica), Lackner (drums), Lee (bass), Rozum (electric mandolin) and Sauber (fiddle). Likewise, the carefree “Doce de Mayo,” inspired by Corbett’s birthday (“I think my birthday is a polka,” he jokes), is a spirited jam with Los Lobos percussionist Victor Bessetti and Conjunto Los Pochos accordionist Otono Lujan and guitarron player Lorenzo Martinez.
The entire album is a crisply produced showcase for the witty and multitalented Corbett, who’s been picking on bluegrass, newgrass and old-time tunes since picking up his father’s Vega banjo-mandolin at age 11. The 12 tracks collectively boast an impressive array of vintage mandolins, banjos, fiddles, bass and guitars, including a 1936 Martin sunburst 000-18 and a 1917 Gibson K-1 mandocello. One tune in particular also brings Corbett full circle with his past. “Ease on Down the River,” previously heard on the 1994 album The Cat’s Meow by the Acousticats, the critically acclaimed folk-bluegrass-swing ensemble he joined after relocating to California, reunites Corbett with a pair of longtime friends and musical heroes. “To redo ‘Ease on Down the River,’ with Herb Pedersen and Bill Bryson singing harmony, felt really good,” he says. “I’m really happy with the whole album.”
Tonight I Ride shows Corbett settled into a more peaceful phase of his life. It’s another admirable achievement on his noteworthy resume. A consistently active member of L.A.’s acoustic music scene, Corbett has toured with folk duo Robin and Linda Williams and Nitty Gritty Dirt Band multi-instrumentalist John McEuen, recorded several tracks on Social Distortion frontman Mike Ness’ rootsy solo album Cheating at Solitaire, and joined McEuen, Jimmy Ibbotson, Jennifer Warnes and Laurie Lewis in the award-winning 2002 DVD Nitty Gritty Surround. More recently he taught Tom Selleck how to play ukulele for a role, and provided music for the Ted Haggard-themed play This Beautiful City at Centre Theatre Group in Los Angeles. He just played a string of European dates and is currently booking dates for a U.S. tour.
To learn more about Tonight I Ride and Tom Corbett, please visit HYPERLINK "http://www.tomcorbett.net" www.tomcorbett.net.
# # #
Links
