"One day the greatness of Tom Russell will surely be fully recognised and if the big names populating this powerhouse collection help make it come sooner, then we should all celebrate." (Colin Irwin -Mojo, October 2007)3. Various Artists: Wounded Heart of America (Tom
Russell Songs) (HighTone/Festival). This tribute to
perhaps the finest post-Dylan roots songwriter
features 14 excellent covers and four bonus tracks of
Russell himself. (Mike Regenstreif - Montreal Gazette, Top 20 List - Roots, 2007)Tom Russell was born in Los Angeles in 1952 and now makes his home on the border of El Paso-Juarez. He graduated from the University of California with a Master's Degree in Criminology, taught school in Nigeria during the Biafran War, and then relocated to Vancouver. He began his music career in the bars of Vancouver's skid row. He has since lived in Austin, San Francisco, New York and, finally, on a 2.68 badlands farm in the desert of West Texas.
He is a painter, novelist, filmmaker, and acclaimed songwriter.
His recent recording is "Wounded Heart of America," which features lost tracks of people who have recorded Tom's songs, from Johnny Cash and Doug Sahm, to Joe Ely, Jerry Jeff Walker, Nanci Griffith, Iris Dement and Dave Van Ronk. The record also includes Tom's recording of "Who's Gonna Build Your Wall?" which he performed on his fourth appearance on Late Night with David Letterman TV show, August 21, 2007.Tom Russell has recorded one DVD and 21 albums of original material. His
songs have been recorded by Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Johnny Cash, KD Lang, Nanci Griffith, Doug Sahm, Dave Alvin, Joe Ely, Ian Tyson, and 100's of others.
He is credited, along with Dave Alvin, with establishing the Americana radio format with their co-produced tribute to Merle Haggard, Tulare Dust, released on Hightone in 1994. The Columbus Other wrote: "Russell seems to have invented and keeps reinventing the Americana genre. He goes from strength to strength. It's as if Muhammed Ali were knocking-out opponents at age 60....Russell is the only writer of his generation who grows stronger with each release." His songs have appeared in a dozen films, including Songcatcher and Tremors.
Russell has published three books: a detective novel, a songwriting compendium of quotes with Sylvia Tyson, and a book of letters with Charles Bukowski.
His paintings were recently featured in Paste Magazine and a major exhibition of his artwork took place at Yard Dog Folk Art Gallery, Austin, Texas from February to April 2006. His art can be purchased at www.yarddog.com.Russell recently completed a four part Radio documentary on the America Cowboy for BBC Radio Two which will air in November 2007. He is also working on a film about a ranch woman in the California West.Tom Russell's recording catalogue is available from www.villagerecords.com
and his official website for photos, news etc is www.tomrussell.com
Other websites: www.russelltom.blogspot.com, http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tom-Russell/23428354936Tom Russell is booked by [email protected] in North America
and in UK by Bob Paterson at [email protected]
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