Tom Gillam is a name that I first became familiar with back in the summer of 2001 courtesy of Mattson Rainer repeatedly spinning Gillam’s “Dallas” on KNBT. Since that time, Gillam has been adopted as an honorary Texan and toured through Texas as often as possible.


*I wrote this review and several others for the latest issue of LonestarMusic Magazine. Pick up your copy today!
-Brad
This album, Live, Somewhere in America: Play Loud…Dig Deep is the result of that road-dog mentality. Unlike many live projects, this one was recorded over many nights, not the standard one or two. You will find no overdubs on this disc, a fact that Gillam humorously and proudly attests to in the liner notes by stating “ …this is what it sounded like. We fixed none of our mistakes in the studio. Which might be a mistake.”

Don’t worry Tom, it was most definitely not a mistake. The energy and sound leaps out of the speakers on this live set. To give listeners unfamiliar with Tom’s music a baseline of what to expect, I’d compare it to Bob Seger belting out Americana tinged blues rock at some roadside dive in the Hill Country after arriving there on a Harley. This is aggressive alt-country rock. Normally, when I have to throw the rock tag on alt-country it can mean the lyrics are afterthoughts for the band I’m describing. That is not the case with this album or Gillam’s canon in general.

Cranked out by a flawless five piece band, the tunes on this album are strong examples of Americana at its best. Gillam’s voice is surprisingly spry and versatile. Like Clark Kent going into a phone booth, Gillam manages to change his performance style on each track depending on what is called for from his pen. This is a fun live record if you’re looking for something that will seem familiar yet fresh. 4/09

In the final print issue of No Depression Magazine (#75 May-June 2008), Buddy Miller is celebrated as "Artist of the Decade"
The writer,Grant Alden mentions Tom Gillam briefly. See Below (To see the complete article, go to  http://archives.nodepression.com/issue/75/ )

"Anyhow. Last year the AMA gave Buddy a lifetime achievement award for his guitar playing. His younger sister works for Gibson — the company kind enough to provide the pieces and parts we turn into hand-crafted awards — and so we managed to get an unpainted guitar delivered to the illustrator Tim Shawl, who did a spectacular Howard Finster-esque folk art design on it. It was then lacquered and assembled and presented to Buddy onstage by his little sister, who refused to say a word but beamed the whole while.

Buddy mumbled something into the microphone and went back to his stool with the band.

A few weeks later, Buddy called to say thanks. I guess he knew I’d had a small hand in it, maybe he knew that I’m the one who gives Tim clues as to what images or words or ideas need to be conveyed on the awards.

I choked up. Nobody calls to say thanks, nor do I expect any. I think of myself as a tough bastard, but I’m not, especially not this week. And not then, either, apparently. And I said, very softly, “Buddy, you’re precious to me.”

I hadn’t really…known that, put it into words.

But he is. So are Jon Dee Graham and Steve Earle and Allison Moorer and Mike Ireland and Lizz Wright and Del McCoury and Mavis Staples. Alejandro Escovedo. Tom Gillam and Thao Nguyen, because they both want so badly they vibrate with want, and because they really are good enough. Hope Nunnery if she makes a couple more records as good as the debut she cut at 53. Some of whom I’ve met, some not. I don’t care about the meeting. I care…still…deeply…about the music they continue to make. About making art after it ceases to be easy to do so.

That’s not a complete list. It comes from the heart, and it’s not in order.

Maybe it’s out of order.

Make your own list. That’s what this is about.

Oh, yeah. First thing Buddy said when he sat down to talk: He used to be on that old AOL board. The one called “No Depression.”

There. That’s the beginning.

No Depression Magazine 11/07-12/07

Tom Gillam
Too busy singing to put anybody down
PHILADELPHIA, PA
By David Menconi
Somewhere in New Jersey, there’s a hospital worker Tom Gillam wants to meet, because he owes this person his life. It was March 2006 and Gillam had just had his third heart attack. This one was so serious, it looked like he wasn’t going to make it.

“I was told after the fact that someone actually said, ‘Let’s call it,’” Gillam says. “But somebody else in the room — a doctor or nurse, I never found out who — said, ‘Let’s try again, I think he’s coming back.’ If I ever find that person, they’re getting the biggest kiss on the lips ever, because I was literally gone. But somebody said to try one more time.

“So I got a do-over,” he concludes with a laugh, “which you’ll be hearing about in many songs on the next few albums.”

Judging from Gillam’s new album, Never Look Back (Treehouse Productions), we’re as lucky as he is. Alternately pissed-off (”Another Break-Up Song”), exuberant (the title track) and mysterious (”Where Is Bobbie Gentry?”), Never Look Back is steeped in enough 1970s-vintage classic-rock verities to give the Hold Steady a run for their money. Imagine the great lost Joe Walsh album, with Tom Petty guitarist Mike Campbell pitching in on chiming leads and the vocal cast of Poco stopping by to lend background harmonies.

But if you ask Gillam about influences, inspirations and aspirations, a different set of reference points comes up.

“The two albums I’ve been trying to match ever since I started making records are Stephen Stills’ Manassas and especially the Monkees’ Headquarters,” he says. “Which is kind of geeky. Some people say, ‘Yep, Led Zeppelin changed my life.’ Or, ‘The first time I heard Dylan, man, that was it.’ With me, it’s, ‘The first time I heard the Monkees, I wanted to do that!’”

Gillam started out with a series of bands he’d just as soon not talk about now, playing “whatever the flavor of the month was,” he says. He gave up chasing record deals about a decade ago, hooking up with producer Joe Carroll (who also plays in Gillam’s backing band, Tractor Pull) for a series of excellent DIY releases.

“In the music business scheme of things, we’re doing zero-budget stuff,” Gillam says. “What Justin Timberlake’s dinner costs is about what we spent to do my record. A fraction of what gets spent on artists like that would do me just fine. But I’m not waiting around for some label to come knocking.”

Nothing on Never Look Back directly addresses Gillam’s brush with the great beyond, as the album was written and largely recorded before that happened. But a few songs’ vocals were cut afterward. Of particular note is the title track, written by Tractor Pull lead guitarist Craig Simon.

“I try not to read a lot into what I do or how I do it,” Gillam says. “But yeah, that song did take on a different meaning and perspective — singing about getting rid of old demons and moving forward. That’s my credo now. Who cares about what happened yesterday, it does not matter.”

Part of moving forward involves a health regimen. Gillam admits he “was not living an exemplary life” before his heart attacks. That changed while Gillam was in the hospital; he had a talk with his doctor, who told him he had to give up drugs, cigarettes and alcohol. A drinker since age 15, Gillam did not want to her that.

“The doctor said I was on so much Lipitor that if I drank, it would shred my liver in about six months,” Gillam says. “And also, the heart attacks would happen all over again, which is a picnic I don’t want to go to. So that was it for drinking, and it’s been great. Three months later, I was on my first sober tour of my life. I hate to sound all twelve-step program, but it’s something I should’ve done twenty years ago. I feel amazing.

“Coffee’s my last vice,” he concludes. “Well, that and cookies. Hey, I was the king of vices and now I’ve got to have something! ‘C’mon, honey, I’m not doing dope, just give me cookies! And make a pot of coffee!’”
-David Meconi

 No Depression 12/05
Often it seems the best practitioners of roots-rock are those who tread a line between solid songcraft and punkish abandon. By that measure, Tom Gillam ranks high indeed. Falling somewhere along a continuum that includes vintage country-rockers such as Poco and Nashville rebels such as Steve Earle, the New Jersey-based Gillam has a knack for injecting combustible energy into hooks and melodies evocative of classic country-pop.

Of the three full-length albums Gillam has released thus far, Shake My Hand is by far his most assured. Right from the start, on the crashing chords that introduce the blustery “Outside The Lines”, Gillam sounds like a man reveling in the knowledge that he’s hitting his stride as an artist. The main ingredients in his arsenal — walls of rhythm guitar, radio-friendly vocal harmonies, stinging slide work, and a rebellious spirit — are there in that opening salvo.

Other high points include the swamp-boogie-meets-pop “Take It Easy On Me” (think solo Joe Walsh, had Walsh been born on a bayou), the kiss-off swing tune “Your Parting Gift”, and a hard-as-nails rocker titled “One Step At A Time” that brings to mind John Hiatt at his most scruffy.

Shake My Hand owes much of its power to Gillam’s longtime backing band, the aptly-named Tractor Pull. In fact, Gillam’s weak spots are generally the ballads, where, without the band’s feisty interplay to propel him, he sometimes comes off as clichéd (both musically and lyrically). But such moments are few. For the most part, Shake My Hand finds Gillam assimilating his various influences into a rough-hewn, original fabric.
-Russell Hall

 "If you need comparisons, think So-Cal Country Rock of the early-70s, a la The Eagles, but that doesnt mean it sounds dated. Its quite the opposite, as this is one of the freshest sounding releases to hit this year. Thats why KPIG, KZRC, Morehead State Public Radio, KFAN, KAXE and KRCL were the first in."

Jack Barton
Sr. Director/Triple A
FMQB
Friday Morning Quarterback 2/17/05

 
"Gillams sound will give the listener a good idea of how fun he and his band can be live. This is good-time music, while still giving a nod to concern. This disc is a definite winner for the party-hardy crowd." Reviewer: Matt Merta Twangcast.com


" Tom serves up a tasty brew of Americana country-rock that's anchored in classic 70s era southern/country rock influences that includes everyone from the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band to the Eagles to Skynyrd to the Allman Brothers and just about everyone in-between. He combines his skilled slide guitar work with touches of steel guitar, fiddle, mandolin and nicely done harmonies to deliver his well crafted self-penned songs"

"Tom Gillam possesses a warm, pleasing voice and while his songs show he's strongly influenced by the 70s era southern/country-rockers, he's most assuredly not an imitator nor is it the typical watered down sanitized version of the real thing Nashville's been offering up over the last decade or so. He's got a style of his own, with strong, well crafted songwriting. What really pushes Tom over the top is his excellent slide guitar work and the stellar musicianship of his backing band Tractor Pull"
-Shake My Hand Review
Take Country Back

"Soulful country rock, strong harmonies, ringing slide guitar. Michael Meehan. "Freight Train Boogie


TOM GILLAM DALLAS 
GOTHAM
"Gillam's rootsy brew is barroom-ready enough for those who remember GTB's paint-peeling Khyber and Silk City sets from back in the day, yet literary enough for those who prefer their twang tempered with WXPN sensitivity and politeness"
- - -PATRICK BERKERY from the philly weekly 4/20/01


TOM GILLAM
Dallas.... (Gotham)
" His songs are top-notch and he can bring it down for some nice country ballads too. This is rock label Gotham's first foray into the Americana format and I think they found a real winner in Gillam."
FROM FREIGHT TRAIN BOOGIE SHORT REVIEW  Reviewed by Bill Frater.

02-07-01

"Slide guitarist Tom Gilliam fits that broad Americana segment occupied by everyone from Sonny Landreth to John Hiatt. His first national release is a listenable collection of swamp boogie songs filtered with a few slower crooners"

Reviewed By: John Brandon FROM ALT-COUNTRY
Rating: 3.5 STARS


" What might set this artist apart from the pack, however, is his songcraft -- most noticeable on the title track, which has just the right balance of guitar crunch, winning melody, and manly anguish. Dallas bears the influence of the long history of roots rock success stories, from The Flying Burrito Brothers to the Allman Brothers to Tom Petty to the Jayhawks It's wise to file this under highly likable"
- - - Erik Hage, All Music Guide