Morning Call    March 9, 2009
Band of the Week: Friends of Tom
Total People in Discussion: 0
Categories: Music, Music News
Posted by Jodi Duckett at 12:01:23 AM on March 9, 2009

Bands that play original music rarely want to be pigeonholed into one style. Friends of Tom have gone a step further — they have made up their own word for what they play.  “FoBluCo,” also the name of the group’s first CD, defined as a combination of folk, blues, country and roots. Another description might be just Americana, or roots music. It leanstoward the backwoods, with a laid-back, stringed instrument sound.

Along with originals, the quartet plays songs by artists ranging from Lucinda Williams to BrianSetzer, as well as putting their own spin on classic rock standards. “We take a song and play it using different instrumentation,” says Chris Younger. People will ask them, “What’s that metal thing?” upon seeing Rob Fedorczyk’s Dobro, or “Is that a cello?” when looking at Jim Thompson’s standup bass.

Friends of Tom, which has been together about four years, is composed of three men who are engineers in their day jobs and a lead singer, Chris’ wife Liz, who is a social worker. For many years, Chris played the bar circuit with a cover band, RoundTrip.  The current band was yet unnamed when they did a show with the former lead singer of RoundTrip, Tom Epler. When introduced, they referred to themselves as “friends of Tom.” They decided to keep the name.

Their 12-track CD has all originals, except a bluegrass-like version of “House of the Rising Sun.”  It varies from love songs to humorous laments about the tardiness of spouses and the middle age loss of memory. There are also heartfelt stories about lost friends. “These people struck a chord,” says Liz Younger, “and inspired us to write wonderful lyrics.”   

Music: Americana
Members:
Liz Younger – lead vocals,

Chris Younger – guitar, harmonica, vocals, mandolin, rhythm machine,
Rob Fedorczyk – slide acoustic and electric guitar, Dobro, mandolin,
 Jim Thompson - upright bass

Performing: CD release party, 9 p.m., March 13, Grumpy’s Bar-B-Que Roadhouse, 3000 Mauch Chunk Road, Mechanicsville, 610-769-4600, www.grumpysbbq.net,

 live on-air performance, 1 to 2 p.m.,  March 13, WXLV 90.3 FM.

On the Web: www.friendsoftomband.com

Dave Howell is a freelance writer.

March 1, 2009

Fobluco from Friends of Tom is a high-energy mix of folk, blues, country

Posted by Jodi Duckett at 2:17:07 PM on March 1, 2009
 
FRIENDS OF TOM

“Fobluco” self-released

Fobluco is, according to Friends of Tom, a combination of folk, blues and country, or put another way, it combines backwoods, back porch, Delta and twang. It seems to be a high-energy mix with quirky lyrics.

There is plenty of twang with Chris Younger on guitar and mandolin and Rob Fedorczyk on Dobro slide, guitar and banjo. Many of the songs are bluegrass, but they have an extra bit of rhythm from Jim Thompson’s standup bass and guest drumming by Cliff Cole and Jeff White.

Among the 12 tracks are the electric blues of “The Men in My Life” featuring Liz Younger’s sultry vocals, the honky tonk of “ ‘Bear’ Bones,” and a bluegrassy version of the CD’s only cover, “House of the Rising Sun.”

The little touches here make this CD appealing. On “East Coast Woman,” Chris Younger writes about
his wife always being late, while during the song Liz is “calling” him on her cell phone. John Carelli does a short operatic vocal to begin the melancholy “Never Said Goodbye.” Cole leads off “Tell Me Now” with hammered dulcimer that enhances the song so much, you can forgive the rhyming of “love me” and “eternity” and “true” and “I love you.”

Fobluco grows on you as you listen, although, like a lot of good music, it is hard to explain why.  It might be the sincerity. Or maybe it is nice to hear love songs about marriage or lost friends  instead of the standard breakup/falling-in-love themes. Or maybe because it is a bit different.

But you should listen, and decide for yourself.

Performing: Friends of Tom CD release party, 8:30 p.m. March 13, Grumpy’s BBQ, 3000 Mauch Chunk
Road, Mechanicsville, 610-769-4600; 1-2 p.m. March 13, live performance, WXLV 90.3 FM.

On the Net: www.friendsoftomband.com.

Dave Howell is a freelance writer.

“Friends of Tom” CD Release Party,

When: Friday March 13, 2009, 8:30 p.m.

Where: Grumpy’s Bar-B-Que Roadhouse, 3000 Mauch Chunk Road, Mechanicsville, PA 610-769-4600

Website: www.friendsoftomband.com or www.myspace.com/friendsoftomband

“Friends of Tom”, a local band with national exposure, will be holding a CD Release Party on Friday, March 13, for their recently completed CD, entitled “FoBluCo”.  The CD is a compilation of 11 original songs along with a kicked up version of “House of the Rising Sun”.

Their style has been praised as “pure Americana, with a pinch of backwoods, a smidgen of back-porch, a dash of delta with sprinkles of twang.   It is business as usual to hear foot stomping and hoots from the audience as “Friends of Tom” kicks their shows into high gear.” 

The general public is invited to attend the CD release party which begins at 8:30 p.m. at Grumpy’s Bar-B-Que Roadhouse, 3000 Mauch Chunk Road, Mechanicsville, PA (610-769-4600). There will be a light finger food buffet and CDs available.

Prior to the release party, “Friends of Tom” will be interviewed and featured in a live performance broadcast on WLXV, 90.3 on Friday, March 13, 2009 @ 1:00 pm.   Steam it live at www.wxlv.org

 For more information regarding the CD Release Party, visit www.friendsoftomband.com or www.myspace.com/friendsoftomband.

Hey there everyone.  Yes the CD has finally been released.  Come on out to a show and pick up a copy.    We're working on getting this up on CD Baby and Itunes, and we'll let ya know when that's ready. 

Friends of Tom

Great news  The CD master and art work have been sent for replication.  The CD is called FoBluCo (think FOlk-BLUes-COuntry) and contains 12 songs, 11 which are originals penned by Chris Younger and Rob Fedorczyk.    We should have the CDs in about 3 weeks.

Stay Tuned,

Friends of Tom

Hey there friends of "Friends of Tom",

Yep, we've been talking about the CD at our shows for quite some time now and getting a bunch of questions about it.   We're happy to report that we are actually making some progress.   We have been laying down tracks both at home and at Dan's House Studio and are starting to pull things together.  Some of the delay has been achieving quality tracks with home based recording, and I think we're through the learning curve on that.  Hopefully by Fall we will have something.

If you haven't checked us since the addition of Jim Thompson on upright bass, please do.  Our sound is much fuller, and that upright bass really looks cool.

Thanks for coming out and we appreciate the support.

"Friends of Tom"

Dear Friends of "Friends of Tom",

September was a busy month for us.  We performed more than usual and we really appreciate all the support at the gigs.   There's nothing better than performing for a familiar face and an appreciative audience.   What more can we say other than THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!

We just recently perfomed at a Benefit to support our friends Dale and Wendy for the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer.   The event was a huge success and Wendy exceeded her goals and is well on her way to raise the funds for the 40 mile walk.  Better get those walking shoes ready Wendy and start training!  We'll be with you in spirit on every step of the way.

Friends of Tom is also in the early stages of recording our first cd.   We are fine tuning the songs and will start laying down tracks in the very near future.  We are very excited about this project and hope to have a cd available in a couple of months.

All for now,

"Friends of Tom"