Holly Golightly Blues 15,000 and counting!!!!

Holly Golightly blues passed the 15,000 hit mark over the weekend!!  Thanks to everyone who is watching the video again, and again!  None of my other videos has done anything near that.

Tom Gary Blues Band On Amazon

Yesterday & Today


Hey kids!  LOOK!!  You can now order my CD or just my hit song Holly Golightly Blues at Amazon!!!   HOLY COW!   This is pretty cool.  I love modern technology!  It amazes me that I can create, send my stuff out into the internet, and have my music stored on a server, then it can be distributed to several great sites where you can buy either the CD or the music right from the comfort of your own room.  Who needs a big old record company that is going to take most of your money when you can do it all by yourself. 

To buy the CD click on the yesterday and today link above, for Holly click on the ad on the right.

John Lukehart Found!

Way back in November of 2007 I asked if anyone had seen John (Third from the left) I found John again last Fall, and he is doing okay, but out of the music business. However, I do hope that he picks up his guitar again real soon. He sent me a photo of his last band the Backstage Boogie Band which featured Rick Mosqueda, Harlan Thomas, John Lukehart, and the late Jim Faur.

I do want to thank some people who read the blog and tried to help find him, and I also wanted to let you know that he is OK.

If you would like to hear John, Jim Faur, and John Woody Wood, then check out my CD on CD Baby. They are featured on five of the songs on the CD, and they were one of the tightest bands that I have ever had. Just click on the CD Baby icon on the right side of the blog.

Yesterday And Today Available As Digital Download!

If you use any of these digital download services you can now purchase my CD for either 99 Cents a song, or for the whole disc 8.99!!!!!! WOW!!!

Napster

Ruckus

Amie Street

GroupieTunes

Apple iTunes

Verizon

GreatIndieMusic

Inprodicon

Tradebit

Amazon

You can even buy the whole CD at Amazon.com!!!! Now you have even more choices to buy my CD. No more excuses about shipping charges!!!:-) Help out a poor bluesman today and buy my disk today!

Tom Gary Blues Band In The Storm Lake Paper

Yeah! I had another interview! This was with Dana Larson, Editor, of the Pilot Tribune in Storm lake Iowa. I am not sure how long it will be up and online, you can click here for the story or read it below.

Get Tom Gary on stage, and the passion for the music pours out. He and his bandmates rip through classic blues and tight, original stuff with a jumping beat.
Away from the footlights, the resident bluesman is so laid back you can hardly stand it.
He claims to have formed his latest group, the Tom Gary Blues Band, out of "boredom," and says the foursome isn't big on a lot of rehearsal - in fact, their performance schedule is structured mainly by the agrarian calendar - bass player Don Demers farms near Truesdale.
The guys may play blues, but they don't live it. "Everybody is pretty relaxed in this band, there's no drama. We just show up and do the gig, and try to have some fun with it," Gary says.
The music takes shape rapidly - among them, the bandmates have over 100 collective years of experience on stage. All four contribute vocals with their various styles matched to favorite tunes.
Storm Lake's own blues crew will again be featured at the Cherokee Blues & Jazz Festival - one of Iowa's premier celebrations of the genre.
Catch the Tom Gary Blues Band at the Pub Crawl Friday, January 2, 9 p.m.-midnight at The Gathering Place. Admission is $10, and covers five acts that night at Corvo's, The Copper Cup, Cherokee Bowl, The Other Place and The Gathering Place.
Other Festival Events include a Jam Session Sat., Jan. 3, noon-3 p.m. at The Gathering Place, another Pub Crawl Saturday night 9-midnight; the Grand Concert Saturday night at 6:30 at the WIT Convention Center with pianist/vocalist Kelley Hunt and The Erick Hovey Band; a Brunch Buffet Sunday 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. at The Gathering Place; and a Music Clinic for students on January 16 at Cherokee Middle School.
The Festival is a favorite of Gary's. "No matter how cold or snowy it is, people come out. And the great people who do this festival not only take care of the music fans, they treat the musicians just wonderfully."
In fact, the band might not exist if it wasn't for the festival.
When Gary made the move from the urban scene to come to Storm Lake to teach, the pianist/vocalist was invited to a jam at the festival. Jim Adamson, festival booster, was impressed and realized how much Gary missed performing. "He was the one who kind of hooked me up with the guys who became the band," Gary said.
They stepped to the forefront with a well-regarded concert during the last Star Spangled Spectacular, and one at the Buena Vista University Blues Concert Series, which ties in with an interim class Gary teaches on the roots of the musical genre.
The band has been together about a year and a half - a long shelf life in a genre where musicians' collaboration commonly comes and goes. "I'm pretty sure this is the longest I've ever been together with the same band," Gary says.
When he isn't performing, the bluesman teaches art at Laurens-Marathon school and is an adjunct professor of history at BVU. He is a historian of the blues, with an in-depth blog site and articles published delving such subjects as the musical activity in the African American population of Des Moines in the era of Duke Ellington and Nat King Cole. He launched an internet radio station, too.
The Tom Gary Blues Band recently released its first full-length CD, "Yesterday and Today, with 15 tracks written by Gary, including local favorites like, "Sings Like an Angel," "Iowa," "Court Ave" and "Holly Golightly Blues." He says it is the culmination of 13 years of songwriting labors.
While live music is struggling in general, the blues is eternal, Gary feels.
"I guess it is the history of the music partially, and the stories it tells. Blues music isn't really sad, it actually tends to be up-tempo. Everybody has a different reason for liking it," he says. "Although people in northwest Iowa haven't had a whole lot of contact with African American culture in the past, people seem to be pretty happy with the music."
Nearly everything in popular music today has its roots in blues, he suggests - not just rock, but also modern jazz, country, even hip hop. "Cab Calloway was doing rap music in the 1930s, they just hadn't invented the name for it yet," Gary says.
The band has no huge aspirations. All members have their day jobs, and their goal isn't fame - just helping to keep their brand of music alive and local audiences nodding their heads and tapping their feet to the beat.
They would like to expand their repertoire and their performing range a bit, and probably tackle another CD project, Gary says.
"We don't have to play for a living, luckily," he says. "Personally, I need to play."
Gary is in the process of arranging his next Blues Series, and will soon announce three public concerts to be held with some of the region's top talent later in January.
A CD launch party will also be scheduled soon for the "Yesterday and Today" disk, which is available at cdbaby.com. The band will also be appearing in the Iowa Great Lakes region next month with final details of that show still being worked out.

New Shipping Options At Lulu.com

Hey Everyone. I know many people were upset with the high shipping costs at Lulu.com. Now because there is no doubt in my mind, more than I complained to them, they have three options, and the prices are much lower. So feel free to shop around for the best deal. I also see that CD Baby has put my disk on sale at Amazon.com So now you can download the whole CD right to your computer for 8.99!!! What a deal!!!

Check it out:

CD available at Lulu Click HERE
CD available at CD BABY Click HERE
CD available at Amazon Click HERE
Downloads at Amazon Click HERE

Tom Gary Blues Band On Down On The Corner, Kuni Radio

Just received conformation that Bob Dorr will be playing one of our tunes on his Down On The Corner radio show on KUNI. Down On The Corner features artists from around the region. It is a great show and it really proves how much great blues are located in Iowa. Here is when you can catch the show on the internet

Tom Gary Blues Band on Down On The Corner, Friday, 11/21, around 10:12pm (replays 11/22-3:12am and 11/26-1:12am)

If you are bouncing around the web then take the time to listen to Bob's show.

Click HERE to listen.

1000 Plays!!!!!!

I know that in the big scheme of things that 1000 views on Youtube is nothing, but for one of my videos that is really something!!! I must admit that it is the feel good hit of the fall:-) the guys worked out some great harmonies, and Audrey Hepburn is very easy on the eyes:-) I also noticed that the song is popular in Germany! It was posted on a German message board/myspace type page that is popular with women:-) anyway what surprises me is that it is the slide show version of the song that is popular not the actual clip version. So here is both for your enjoyment!


Thanks for listening!!!

Tom Gary Blues Band On CD BABY!!!!!

Okay, enough of the mad emails! You have spoken and I have listened. You can also order my latest album either on CD, or MP3, by going to CD Baby!!! Also for a limited time only as a special gift to my readers you can get a discount if you buy more than one at CD Baby. To be honest I am loosing money on this deal, but given the economy, I really don't want a bunch of cds sitting around either. So click HERE to order from CD Baby.

BTW, for Storm Lake and NW Iowa fans. We will have another CD release show coming up around the second or third week of November up at the old Mason's building. More info coming later, we are still on a holding pattern as we wait for harvest to be done. Up here in NW Iowa not only do I have band members in the field, but a lot of fans are out there as well! Thanks for keep America fed!

CD Release Party!!!!

Big gig alert!! I am having a CD release party on Saturday, September 20th, at the Gathering Place in Cherokee Iowa. The show starts at 8pm, and as always five dollar donations are accepted at the door. Plus Yesterday and Today, my first CD is for sale for 15 bucks! I hope if you are in the region of NW Iowa, SE South Dakota, SW Minnesota, and NE Nebraska, you will come on out to our party. It should be a great time, and it will give you a preview of the Cherokee Jazz and Blues Fest. Also we are going on sabbatical until November while Don goes out into the field to harvest. (yup we have a real farmer in the band!!!) So this will be your last chance to see us, and buy the cd for at least 6 weeks!!! YIKES!!! So you better catch us now, or it will be a long wait!!

Tom Gary Blues Band: Holly Golightly Blues 2.0!!

You will really love this. A very cool guy from Poland has made us a REAL VIDEO!! Here is Holly in all her greatness! You can also catch this video on youtube HERE.

The Song and video are about Holly Golightly the character from Breakfast at Tiffany's If you liked the video then you will probably like the film order the DVD! Its only 12 bucks at Barnes and Nobles. Click HERE.

Tom Gary Blues Band: Holly Golightly Blues

Well, I wasn't sure about posting this since it is very plain, but it took several hours to make so I figure better to post than to have spent half a night working on nothing! Here is my video tribute to Holly Golightly. If you are over 50 you probably saw the movie Breakfast At Tiffany's, starring Audrey Hepburn, and George Peppard. Those of you below 40 probably have no clue what the song is about, but hey thats okay! Its got a catchy beat and you can dance to it!!:-)

I combined the story from the original Novella, by Truman Capote, and parts of the movie, and a little bit of a friend of mine. If you thinking where is the blues, well, it is there. Originally, I was trying to write sort of a Peidmont style song, but when I added the bridge, (which had a memphis soul sound to it) then it became a pop song.

I guess the running joke at our live shows is that all my songs are about my failed romances, and I have had plenty. So at least here is a song that about a failed romance that has nothing to do with me! Enjoy, and buy my CD:-)

Tom Gary Blues Band: Yesterday And Today. ON SALE NOW!!!!!!!

Hey everyone!

It is finally available. My first real CD release Yesterday And Today, is available on Lulu.com. The band saw the the CD tonight and was thrilled with it, so it is a go, and now you can buy it! It is 15 dollars for 65 minutes of really great Blues, Jump Blues, Funk, and Soul. The shipping is around 11 bucks, but it is worth it because Lulu works fast. When I ordered my copy I had it three days later. What is amazing is that they produce these CDs by the order! So when you buy a CD they manufacture it right then. They don't have a ton of my CDs laying around a warehouse, they just take the orders and make them! It is amazing what they can do with technology. They also use UPS 2 day express mail, so it arrives to you fast. I do hope you buy this disc and enjoy it as much as we enjoyed making it. This has been a labor of love that has taken 13 years to complete. Also, and sadly, two of my friends who are on this CD and recorded some of the older songs have passed away. John "Woody" Wood, and Jim Faur played on Sings Like An Angel, Love Song Medley, and Rock And Roll On A Saturday Night. So this CD is in tribute to them as well as my blues mentor, and hero Jimmy "The Midnite Cowboy" Pryor.

To buy my CD Click HERE.

Tom Gary Blues Band CD Update

Well it is closer to being done. I had to put a different cover since my original photo's resolution was not great enough. So I used a different one. I think it might be done. However, I am waiting to get the disc from the publisher to see if it came out okay. I have a feeling that I may have to redo the whole thing again anyway:-) The CD will be available online once I am sure that it looks good. So hang in there:-)

I'm Back!!

If you missed me over the last few days, I have been busy working on a CD called Yesterday And Today. It is a project that took me over ten years to complete. It features three bands, and is all original blues music. I started the project back in 1994 when I took my band featuring John Lukehart, John Wood, and Jim Faar, to Junior's Motel to record some songs. The band broke up, and I lost interest in pursuing a music career. Fast forward to today, and I realized I had a bunch of unrecorded original music and a lot of great songs sitting in the vault that needed to see the light of day. So I took my guys into the studio, Jimmy Davis, Don Demers, and Paul Sleezer, and we recorded 11 more songs! Hopefully, I will have a hot link to the new CD online soon. So you can purchase it.

I have a backlog of blues news so tomorrow I will get everyone updated on the world of blues!

Hang in there!

Tom

Tom Gary Blues Band: Iowa

I have received a lot of emails about posting my music, so I am reposting a couple of videos of mine. This one is the unofficial blues song of Iowa:-) It featured John Lukehart on Guitar, the late John Woody Woods on drums, and Jim Faur on Bass guitar. I play piano and vocals. This was recorded a little over 10 years ago, and the video was shot on my cheap camera last summer. It features my current home town Storm Lake, and in particular Buena Vista University! The beginning and end stars our hometown band, the Storm Lake Municipal Band!!! They put on free shows on Sunday afternoons in the summer right next to the lake in the bandshell! Very Very, cool!!!!

Witter Gallery February 24th

I am playing a fundraiser with Don Demers on Sunday February 24th from 2-3;15pm. We are raising money and trying to increase memberships at the Witter Gallery in Storm Lake. Storm Lake is a very nice college town that has some nice small areas of high culture. The Witter is one of those cool places in Strom Lake that has a nice permanent collection as well as traveling art work. They call the show the February Chocolate Extravaganza, and it sounds like it will be a great time. For more information check out there website: www.thewittergallery.org

Myspace Page Back!!

I just put my myspace page back up so please feel free to rejoin. I know a lot of you were friends before I dropped it so PLEASE COME BACK:-)

Tom Gary Blues Band Myspace page.

Photo Of The Week: The Tom Gary Blues Band

Thanks to the good people of Cherokee Iowa I have a new photo of the band! The latest installment of the Tom Gary Blues Band features, Paul Sleezer on Drums, Jim Davis on Guitar, Myself on Piano, and playing the Doghouse, Don Demers. These guys have a ton of talent and like my other bands they can really sing! It has been a lot of fun working with these guys and putting together a show band. Check out the top of the blog for the blue print which should let you know when the next show is coming up!

Big Show NOV 17th Cherokee Iowa

Another Quick reminder that the Blues Historian is performing Saturday Night in Cherokee Iowa at the Gathering Place. I am performing mostly original material that I have written over the last 20 years. This is going to be a great show so if you are in the area stop on by. The show is going to be recorded, and perhaps if everything works out, and I can get a CD of the show, I will rebroadcast it on the Internet radio station! So for all my fans out there in the World Wide Net, that can't make the show you can listen to it on your COMPUTER!!!:-) Don't you just love modern technology!!!!! I will put more details at the top of the blog tomorrow!