I recently wrote the liner essay for The Tom Russell Anthology: Veteran’s Day, a 2-CD, career-spanning retrospective of the artist I consider to be the finest singer-songwriter of my generation – the generation that started making its mark 10 or 15 years after Dylan.
I’ve been a big fan of Tom’s writing since I started hearing people like Bill Staines, Nanci Griffith and Ian Tyson singing them in the 1970s and early-‘80s. Then I started collecting Tom’s albums – LPs and then CDs – and every one has been among the best, if not the best album of its year. One of them, The Man From God Knows Where, was, in my opinion, the most important folk-rooted album of the past 25 or more years.
I first crossed paths with Tom at a folk festival in the mid-1980s and he proved to be as compelling a live artist as he was a songwriter and recording artist. Since then, I’ve seen Tom perform (God knows how) many times. To me, he’s one of those very rare never-miss artists.
Folks in the Ottawa and Montreal areas have two chances to see Tom next weekend.
On Saturday, March 14, 8:30 pm, he’s at the Black Sheep Inn in Wakefield (near Ottawa). www.theblacksheepinn.com/
On Sunday, March 15, 8:00 pm, Hello Darlin’ Productions is presenting him at Petit Café Campus, 57 Prince Arthur East, in Montreal. http://hellodarlinproductions.com/upcoming_concerts.htm
Like I said, not to be missed.
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