Tom Russell

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Tom Russell songs have been recorded by such icons as Johnny Cash, Dave Van Ronk, Jerry Jeff Walker, Doug Sahm, Joe Ely, Nanci Griffith, Iris Dement, and Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, among others. No less than Lawrence Ferlinghetti, the legendary poet, has said that he shares “a great affinity with Tom Russell’s songs, for he is writing out of the wounded heart of America.”

Tom's 52 Track, double record "The Rose of Roscrae" - A Ballad of the West, is to be released April 14, 2015…with guest artists: Johnny Cash, Leadbelly, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Guy Clark, Dan Penn, Gretchen Peters, Ian Tyson and dozens of others…the reviews are piling in: 

"The Rose of Roscrae: A Ballad of the West is the third in a series of extraordinary concept albums Tom Russell has delivered...yet another masterwork. It is a work of rare ambition and rare brilliance that is beautifully and artfully executed...Tom’s performances are riveting throughout the long piece. So, too, are the other singers who take on various roles in the folk opera...There is an embarrassment of riches among the songs Tom composed for The Rose of Roscrae...Mike Regenstreif, Folk Roots".

"Russell’s Roscrae masterpiece, as well as his back catalogue, totally outstrips (so much of) the music by contemporaries that masquerades as (Americana.) He open heartedly understands that historic context and musical tradition are inextricably linked....Approached very much in the panoramic spirit of classical composer Aaron Copland...Celtic blood courses through this writer’s veins, and the sonically colorful melodies and richly poetic images embedded throughout The Rose Of Roscrae are the stuff of hair-raising chills and joyous optic moisture. Arthur Wood, No Depression, April 2015"

“My career seems to have gone in the opposite direction from a lot of people whose notoriety came over their first half dozen records,” says Russell. “Mine didn’t. My career built very slowly, and then I moved to El Paso in ’97, further outside than anybody could imagine. By not plugging into the machine, the records I’ve made in the past 10 years have been my strongest and most outside records, especially the past two. It seems that the older I get, the more I’ve been able to keep on the outside.”

Tom Russell has appeared on the David Letterman TV show five times in the last few years, and his songs have appeared in a dozen movies and television series including: The new Monte Hellman movie The Road To Nowhere, Tremors, Songcatcher and Northern Exposure. Tom Russell has published three books: a detective novel (in Scandinavia), a compendium of songwriting quotes with Sylvia Tyson (And Then I Wrote - Arsenal Press), and a book of letters with Charles Bukowski: (Tough Company: Mystery Island Press). Russell is also an established painter represented by Yard Dog Folk Art in Austin(www.yarddog.com), Rainbow Man in Santa Fe (www.rainbowman.com) and Liss Gallery (http://www.lissgallery.com) in Toronto. A book of Tom Russell`s art: Blue Horse/Red Desert was published by Bangtail Press in September 2011.