Tom Mason: News

Thanks to all who made it out to the CD release show at the Rutledge. My friend Paul Schatzkin took some wonderful photos that night, and has them posted on his web site: http://www.cohesionarts.com/2010/05/a-night-out-in-the-music-city/ I was honored to be joined by two of Nashville's greatest acts, The Gypsy Hombres (http://www.gypsyhombres.com) and Kevin Gordon (http://www.kevingordon.net) . My band was great! Pru Clearwater and Sheila Lawrence on vocals, Jimmy Gray on bass, Marty Lynds on percussion, Mark Horn on drums, and Jody Nardone on keyboards. Frank Sass did a great job on sound, lights and on the fly film editing.
There will be some edited footage up on youtube, but until then there's a full live streaming version of the show to peruse in the news section below.

Here are a few videos:

A new one Rob Ellen put together of our time in the Netherlands:
AoCo

And the video for The Pirate Song:

Rob Ellen is great about documenting our journeys when we're on the road overseas. Here's a snippet from Kinsale in Ireland's County Cork.

Here's a video of Phil Lee and I playing at the Po' Monkey Lounge outside Clarksdale, Mississippi, shot by our friends Eric and Peter and edited by Kent Agee. The Po' Monkey is one of the oldest juke joints around, and that area of Mississippi great place to visit for any blues lover.

And here's the brand new Streaming video of the whole CD release concert at The Rutledge on May 15, 2010:


Here are some NPT short about the Nashville Shakespeare Festival, one great reason to live in Nashville. (There are a few quick glimpses of my performance in Richard III).:
http://wnpt.org/productions/arts/shake/index.html

I play dobro on a beautiful new CD, a Kirtan recording by Amy Barnes. It's a beautiful, spiritual work, sung in Sanskrit, also featuring vocals by my wife Pru. Go to http://www.amybarnesyoga.com/ to hear samples.

The Nashville CD release party for "Alchemy" is scheduled for Saturday, May 15th at the Rutledge,410 4th Avenue South, Nashville, TN 37201-2212, phone (615) 782-6858‎. Mark your calendars now!!
The show will be my first Nashville concert in years. My amazing band will be Sheila Lawrence, Martin Lynds, Mark Horn, Jody Nardone, Jim Gray, and Pru Clearwater. We'll regale you with tales of conjurers, virtuosos, pirates, lovers, and sojourners.
I'm thrilled to be joined on that night by one of Nashville's greatest writers and performers, Kevin Gordon and his band, and Nashville's kings of Gypsy jazz, The Gypsy Hombres.

"Alchemy" is now available in two fine Nashville record/CD stores. Go in, pick up a copy, and hear music you wouldn't normally hear, and hold in your HANDS cd's that you've never seen before. Let you mind wander and your focus be pulled around the room to wondrous sonic mysteries! Like being in a pinball machine where you're always winning!

East Nashville: The Groove 103 South 11th St. Nashville TN 37206 (Corner of Woodland & 11th) (615) 228-2745 http://thegroovenashville.wordpress.com/
Nashville: Grimeys 1604 8th Ave. South
Nashville, TN 37203
PH: 615-254-4801
http://www.grimeys.com/

I'll be playing at an East Nashville showcase on Friday, September 18th, as part of Red Beets Records happy hour party celebrating the release of East Nashville Volume 3, which features "Chano Pozo's Shoes". Also appearing will be such acts as Eric Brace and Peter Cooper, Phil Lee, Kevin Gordon, Audrey Auld, Tim Carroll, and many others.
The party is from 5-8 at 162 8th Ave. N, downtown Nashville.

The song "Chano Pozo's Shoes" will be featured on the new Red Beet Records CD "East Nashville Volume 3", to be released in September of 2009. Other artist include Eric Brace and Peter Cooper, Phil Lee, Kevin Gordon, Chuck Meade, and Elizabeth Cook. For more details go to redbeetrecords.com

The new Tom Mason CD "Alchemy" has arrived! The thirteen song CD comes with a 16 page, full color illustrated book of lyrics, and features such favorites as "Chano Pozo's Shoes", "The World is Drunk", "The Amazing Lorenzo", and "The Pirate Song".

Here's our special web site deal:
One CD/ $15 two CD's/ $25 five CD's/$50

Payment can be made either by sending a check (no cash please) to Tom Mason, P.O. Box 24456, Nashville TN 37202,
or through our PayPal account (see the "Buy" page). Don't forget to indicate where to send the CD's.

Alchemy will also be available soon at CDBaby.com and on itunes and other popular download sites.

In August I'm heading overseas to play guitar for Phil Lee. We're starting in Scotland, then continuing on to England, Ireland, and then Holland. The dates are on my calendar page, and you can hear Phil Lee at www.Phillee1.com. This is Phil's "I Saw Him Before He Died" tour, and I'll be there to prop him up, chime in on some harmonies, open the show on occasion, and sell some copies of "Alchemy" when Phil's not looking. (Don't tell him!) Don't be surprised if you see me in September standing on the banks of the Cumberland River in kilts playing bagpipes.

I spent May and June of this year in California. My first stop was the Bay area with Phil Lee and comedian Lord Carrett, where we played at the legendary Purple Onion nightclub.
Then I went to greater Los Angeles to start rehearsals for a new production of "Ring of Fire: The Music of Johnny Cash" at the La Mirada Performing Arts Center. This version, directed by and featuring Jason Edwards (from the Broadway cast), was more stripped down, a little less Broadway and a little more Luther Perkins, and with a smaller cast (great folks!), I had more chances to act and sing, including singing "Cocaine Blues" in a prison scene, right after Brantley Kearns (Dwight Yoakum, David Bromberg) sang another lady-killer song, "Deliah's Gone". The reviews were great, and other theaters in California are booking the show in the future,
I had first performed in "Ring of Fire" in the initial Broadway tour in 2007-2008, two busses and two trucks, with a great big family of talented people. We saw a whole lot of this country, from Great Falls, Montana to McAllen, Texas to Orillia Ontario to Portsmouth New Hampshire, and even played Peoria. After two productions and all those shows, I still love every note Johnny Cash sang.