In addition to his music, Russell is also a painter and author. He has published a book of songwriting quotes (co-edited with Sylvia Tyson), a detective novel (in Scandinavia), a book of letters with Charles Bukowski, and two books from Bangtail Press: 120 Songs of Tom Russell, and Blue Horse/Red Desert - The Art of Tom Russell.
In 2016 a new book of Tom Russell essays was published: Ceremonies of the Horsemen. The essays, originally published in Ranch & Reata magazine, are centered on the American West and include an essay on Johnny Cash for which Russell won a 2015 ASCAP AWARD for music journalism.
Frontera, Russell's recording label, has published several books, including companion pieces to two recording projects, The Rose of Roscrae and Folk Hotel as well as an essay/art book, The Ballad of Western Expressionism and a novel, Against The Blood.
In 1977, the duo moved to San Francisco, performing regularly in clubs there as Hardin & Russell, during which time they recorded the second of their two studio albums. They eventually split in 1979, at which point Russell drifted out of the music industry for a year. It was during this hiatus that Russell wrote his classic song "Gallo Del Cielo". Both Hardin & Russell albums (Ring of Bone and Wax Museum) received high critical acclaim, and the first was reviewed in Rolling Stone by Chet Flippo. During this period Russell was also the winner of the first Woody Guthrie - William Oliver Award for songwriting, as well as the professional country category in the first American Song Festival.
Russell moved to New York City in 1980 and while working as a taxi driver in Queens, he met guitarist Andrew Hardin (no relation to Patricia). After hearing his songs, Hardin convinced him that they should form a new band. Shortly afterward, Robert Hunter of the Grateful Dead was a passenger in Russell's cab; Russell sang Hunter his song "Gallo Del Cielo" and an impressed Hunter invited Russell to join him on stage at New York's Bitter End. Hunter encouraged Russell to make a full-fledged return to the music business and Russell later opened for Hunter at the Lone Star Cafe. Hunter sang Russell's "Gallo Del Cielo" at the Glastonbury Festival in the UK.
Andrew Hardin remained Russell's full-time sideman until April, 2006. "Gallo del Cielo" became one of Russell's most fabled songs and has been recorded by Ian Tyson, Joe Ely, Brian Burns, Jason Boland and the Stragglers, and Katie Lee. The song has been cited as a favorite by Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen (as noted in Clarence Clemons' book Big Man.)
Tom Russell Band
Between 1984 and 1994, the Tom Russell Band, composed of Russell on acoustic guitar and vocals, Andrew Hardin (guitar), Fats Kaplin (pedal steel, fiddle, harmonica, button accordion), Billy Troiani (bass), Rich Crane, Charlie Caldarola, and Mike Warner (drums), released four albums on Philo Records. These albums blended elements of folk, country and rock music, and often featured songs inspired by the American Southwest, blue-collar American life, and events from Russell's own life (for instance, the track "Road to Bayamon" draws on his experiences playing in a carnival in Puerto Rico). Russell's storytelling approach was also prominent in songs such as "Haley's Comet", which was also recorded by co-writer Dave Alvin and Doug Sahm and The Texas Tornados. "Haley's Comet" imaginatively recalls the last, tragic days in the life of rock and roll music legend Bill Haley. These early Tom Russell albums are now considered pioneering recordings of the genre which would come to be known as Americana.
Russell was next signed to HighTone Records in California. He released five albums for Hightone before the label was acquired by Shout! Factory Records. Russell's first album on the HighTone label, The Rose of the San Joaquin, was produced by Dave Alvin and Greg Leisz.
The Man From God Knows Where
In the 1990s Russell released several critically acclaimed solo albums and also collaborated with blues singer Barrence Whitfield on two albums (Hillbilly Voodoo and Cowboy Mambo - recently released as a double CD). Russell also recorded an acoustic album mixing new material with his favorite cowboy-themed songs. His albums include guest appearances from other folk, country, and Americana artists, such as Chris Gaffney and Dave Alvin. Russell's song "Outbound Plane", co-written with Nanci Griffith, became a top-ten country hit for Suzy Bogguss. However, his most significant album of the 1990s was the innovative 1999 folk opera, The Man From God Knows Where.
Drawing on the music of Norway and Ireland in addition to American folk and country, The Man From God Knows Where is a song cycle tracing the journeys of Russell's ancestors from Europe to America and the struggles they encountered. Recorded in Norway near the spot where his great-grandfather was born in 1847, the album features singers Iris DeMent, Dolores Keane, Dave Van Ronk, and Kari Bremnes, portraying (and telling the stories of) Russell's various ancestors. The album's title came from the epitaph of a different Tom Russell, an Irish activist executed in 1803.
Recent work
Russell's albums in the 21st century have been heavily influenced by the art, culture, history and folklore of the American Southwest. Albums such as Borderland resonate with a strong and authentic Tex-Mex influence, reflecting life on both sides of the border.
Russell's songs "Tonight We Ride" and "Navajo Rug" were chosen by members of the Western Writers of America as two of the top 100 Western songs of all time.[4] In 2005 Russell released Hotwalker, the second part of his Americana trilogy (the first part being The Man From God Knows Where). It was another conceptual work largely inspired by his correspondence with author Charles Bukowski. Subtitled A Ballad for Gone America, the album features songs and spoken word pieces, many of the latter delivered by another friend of Bukowski, circus midget Little Jack Horton. The sampled voices of Lenny Bruce and Edward Abbey are also heard on the album, which takes the form of a musical collage lamenting the passing of the America of Russell's childhood and the Beat Generation. Jack Kerouac, Charles Bukowski, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Harry Partch, and Dave Van Ronk also appear on the record.
Russell made five nationally televised appearances on the Late Show with David Letterman, as well as playing a show for Letterman in Montana.
In 2006, Russell released Love and Fear, a collection of original songs that were inspired by the highs and lows of his own relationships. This was followed in 2007 by Wounded Heart of America, a tribute album of Tom Russell songs covered by other artists, including Johnny Cash, Doug Sahm, Joe Ely, Suzy Bogguss, Dave Alvin, Jerry Jeff Walker, and beat poet laureate Lawrence Ferlinghetti. Two new songs, "Who's Gonna Build Your Wall?" and "The Death of Jimmy Martin", are also included on the album.
In 2008, Russell's new record company, Shout! Factory, released a 2-CD retrospective album entitled Veteran's Day: Anthology. Russell and legendary Canadian singer/songwriter Ian Tyson held court at Elko, Nevada's National Cowboy Poetry Gathering, producing Mano a Mano, a DVD on the art of songwriting.
In 2009, Shout! Factory released Russell's album Blood and Candle Smoke, featuring twelve original songs. The album was recorded at WaveLab Recording Studio in Tucson, Arizona with members of Calexico providing a world music beat to many of the songs. The album was produced by Tom Russell and Craig Schumacher, who has worked with Neko Case, Iron & Wine and Calexico. 2011 saw Russell release both a new album, Mesabi, and a documentary DVD, Don't Look Down.
In 2013, Frontera Records released Aztec Jazz, a concert recording made with the Norwegian Wind Ensemble (the oldest working orchestra in the world). With the ensemble, Russell was able to realize the vision of reframing some of his more recent songs. He also released Museum of Memories Vol. 2 (1973–2013), a collection of demos, outtakes and previously unreleased live recordings covering a forty-year span.
2014 saw the release of several new projects, including two on Frontera Records: Midway To Bayamon, a compilation of two mid-80s cassette-only releases plus bonus tracks, and Tonight We Ride, an anthology of cowboy songs, including some previously unreleased tracks. The Rockbeat label issued a 2-CD set, The Western Years, collecting western-themed songs primarily from Russell's years on the HighTone label. Rockbeat also re-issued the acclaimed Americana classic Tulare Dust: A Songwriters' Tribute To Merle Haggard which Russell co-produced with Dave Alvin, including a bonus disc taken from a live concert given by many of the artists involved with the project.
In 2016 Frontera Records released the second Tom Russell Anthology: Gunpowder Sunsets, including favorites from recent albums along with previously unreleased material.
Russell released two projects in 2017, "Play One More: The Songs of Ian & Sylvia" through True North Records, and the Frontera Records release of new original songs, "Folk Hotel," which was well received.
To replace the out-of-print "Veteran's Day" anthology, Russell returned to the studio with former guitarist Andrew Hardin to re-record his best known songs in an acoustic format called "Old Songs Yet To Sing."
In 2019, Russell released an album of new compositions, "October in the Railroad Earth," featuring Bill Kirchen on guitar and Eliza Gilkyson guesting on harmony vocals on two tracks. The project was favorably reviewed by critics, including a 4-star review on allmusic.
Nanci Caroline Griffith was an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. She appeared many times on the PBS music program Austin City Limits starting in 1985. In 1994 she won a Grammy Award for the album Other Voices, Other Rooms.
David Albert Alvin is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer. He is a former and founding member of the roots rock band the Blasters. Alvin has recorded and performed as a solo artist since the late 1980s and has been involved in various side projects and collaborations. He has had brief stints as a member of the bands X and the Knitters.
Susan Kay Bogguss is an American country music singer and songwriter. She began her career in the 1980s as a solo singer. In the 1990s, six of her songs were Top 10 hits, three albums were certified gold, and one album received a platinum certification. She won Top New Female Vocalist from the Academy of Country Music and the Horizon Award from the Country Music Association.
Robert Earl Keen is an American singer-songwriter and entertainer. Debuting with 1984's No Kinda Dancer, the Houston native has recorded 20 full-length albums for both independent and major record labels. His songs have had cover versions recorded by many musicians, including George Strait, Joe Ely, Lyle Lovett, The Highwaymen and Nanci Griffith.
Michael Peter Smith was an American, Chicago-based singer-songwriter. Rolling Stone once called him "The greatest songwriter in the English language". Mark Guarino of Chicago Reader wrote, "He never became a household name the way John Prine and Steve Goodman did, but his lengthy discography is just as mighty." He sang and composed from the 1960s, and his rich and challenging songs have been recorded by more than 30 performers.
Mark Erelli is an American singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and touring folk musician from Reading, Massachusetts who earned a master's degree in evolutionary biology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst before pursuing a career in music. Erelli has released nine solo albums and three collaborative albums. His self-titled debut album was released in 1999, the same year that he won the Kerrville Folk Festival's New Folk Award. His first recording for the Signature Sounds label, Compass & Companion, spent ten weeks in the Top Ten on the Americana Chart. Erelli has worked as a side musician for singer songwriters Lori McKenna and Josh Ritter. He has performed at various music festivals and shared the stage with John Hiatt, Dave Alvin, and Gillian Welch. Erelli's song “People Look Around”, which he co-wrote with Catie Curtis, was the Grand Prize winner at the 2005 International Songwriting Competition. His songs have been recorded by Ellis Paul, Vance Gilbert, Antje Duvekot, and Red Molly.
The Kerrville Folk Festival is a music festival held for 18 consecutive days in the late spring/early summer at Quiet Valley Ranch near Kerrville, Texas. The Kerrville Folk Festival was founded in 1972 by the husband-wife team of Rod Kennedy and Nancylee Davis. The event has run annually since then. In 2002, Kennedy retired and the non-profit Texas Folk Music Foundation took over Festival management. The new board hired Dalis Allen as producer. In November 2008, the Kerrville Folk Festival and Kerrville Wine & Music Festival were acquired by the Texas Folk Music Foundation, a 501(c)3 Texas Non-profit Corporation.
Jonathan Byrd is an American singer-songwriter based in Carrboro, North Carolina. He is best known for his narrative tales of love, life, and death in America. In 2003, he was among the winners of the New Folk competition at the Kerrville Folk Festival. He set a record for CD sales at the festival that year, making more sales than the main stage acts. His song, "The Ballad of Larry" has been listed a "Top Rated Song" by Americana-UK. He primarily performs solo and accompanies himself in a variety of traditional acoustic guitar styles. His recordings have featured a variety of instrumental ensembles and typically include one or more instrumental tracks that feature Byrd's skillful flatpicking technique. Occasionally he also appears with the Athens, Georgia based world music duo, Dromedary.
AJ Roach is an American singer-songwriter originally from Virginia, but now based in Ennis, Co. Clare, Ireland. Roach was born in Newport News, Virginia, but his family moved to his parents ancestral home in Duffield, Virginia when Roach was still very young.
"Sonora’s Death Row" is a story song written by California songwriter Kevin "Blackie" Farrell and published by Drifter Music/Bug Music (BMI) Recorded covers of the song have been performed by Robert Earl Keen, Leo Kottke, Michael Martin Murphey, Tom Russell, Richard Shindell, Dave Alvin, Johnny Rodriguez and others. The song was also printed in the 1995 Spring issue of Sing Out! with the following introduction:
Legendary Texas Ranger and Arizona Border Guard Jeff Milton once described Sonora as a hell and a paradise, Michael Martin Murphy tells us. Blackie Farrell's classic Old West ballad, Murphy says, "captures the dangers implicit in cowboys on a tequila spree."
Somewhere Between is the debut studio album by the American country music singer-songwriter Suzy Bogguss, released on March 21, 1989 through Capitol Records. Preceded by the singles "I Want to Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart" and "Somewhere Between", the album reached number 41 on the Billboard Top Country Albums during its 37-week chart stay. The album's third single "Cross My Broken Heart" peaked at number 14 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs. Following the album's success, Bogguss was named the Academy of Country Music's Top New Female Vocalist.
Mark Elliott is a songwriter, author and guitarist whose career started in Washington, D.C. and later took him to Nashville. As a songwriter Elliott has penned hits which reached the Billboard Top Forty charts, notably "Every Man for Himself" for Neal McCoy. As an author, Mark is represented by Brandt & Hochman Literary Agents, Inc. New York, New York, and has released his debut coming of age memoir, entitled, "The Sons of Starmount: Memoir of a Ten-Year-Old Boy" on Valentine's Day 2019. The companion album to the book, featuring all original songs produced in the style of the 1970s is also available.
Kate Mann is an American musician currently based in Taos, New Mexico. She is originally from the Sandia Mountains in New Mexico but moved west as a young adult to pursue a career in music, then moved back in 2011.
The Long Ride is an album by the American folk musician Ramblin' Jack Elliott, released in 1999. It was nominated for a Grammy Award, in the "Best Traditional Folk Album" category.
"Someday Soon" is a song composed by Canadian singer-songwriter Ian Tyson who recorded the song with Sylvia Fricker as the duo Ian & Sylvia in 1963. Cited by Richie Unterberger of Allmusic as "clearly point[ing] toward [its writer's] future C&W/cowboy direction", "Someday Soon" would be brought to prominence via a 1968 recording by Judy Collins, and subsequently recorded by a number of artists primarily in the country and western field. In 2010 "Someday Soon" was honored by the Western Writers of America as one of the "Top 100 Western Songs" of all time.
"John Wesley Harding" is a song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan that appears as the opening track on his 1967 album of the same name.
Rebecca Ann Loebe is an American musician, singer-songwriter, and record producer. She has performed and toured with such recording artists as Shawn Colvin, The Civil Wars, Gregory Alan Isakov, Mary Chapin Carpenter, and Ellis Paul amongst others. In 2011 she made her international broadcast television debut on The Voice . In addition to being a solo singer she is a founding member of Austin-based band Nobody's Girl.
Rick Shea is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist who lives in Southern California. His career spans four decades and in that time he has worked as a solo artist and with bands such as Chris Gaffney and The Cold Hard Facts and Dave Alvin's Guilty Men. Additionally, Shea fronts his own band, the Losin' End. His influences are many and include the hardcore honky of Hank Williams as well as a myriad of American artists and international folk musicians. Eclectic in his stance, his live shows entice audiences across the United States and Europe. He has released ten albums and continues to write, record and produce both his own music and that of other artists.
Tom Russell is an American singer-songwriter. His discography consists of 29 studio albums, 3 live albums, 11 compilations, 3 videos, 3 EPs, 9 singles and 1 tribute album. In addition, his compositions have been featured on a number of albums by other artists.
Andrew Hardin is an American guitarist and record producer. Andrew's guitar style has been influenced by Roy Buchanan, Clarence White, Ry Cooder, Gabby Pahinui, and Grady Martin, with shades of blues, rock, R&B, country, tropical, and Spanish music.
1 2 3 Hamlin, Bradley Mason (2008). "Tom Russell interview". Mystery Island Publications. I was born down on Hope Street, downtown L.A., in the late 40s.
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