GRAMMY™, ASCAP, AND BLUES MUSIC AWARD-WINNER TOM HAMBRIDGE SET TO GO BOOM! ON NEW SOLO CD, FOR AUGUST 30 RELEASE BY SUPERSTAR RECORDS
HAMBRIDGE TO ALSO APPEAR AS SPECIAL GUEST ON UPCOMING TOUR DATES WITH LYNYRD SKYNYRD AND
GEORGE THOROGOOD
NASHVILLE, TN – Grammy™, ASCAP and multiple Blues Music Award-winning Tom Hambridge’s latest CD, Boom!, has been announced for August 30th release by Superstar Records. Hambridge wrote or co-wrote all of the album’s 11 tracks, collaborating with such acclaimed American songwriters including Gary Nicholson, Delbert McClinton, Jeffrey Steele and Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Johnny Van Zant.
Superstar Records will celebrate the new album’s release with a series of promotional events, beginning with a very special CD release show in his native Buffalo, New York, on July 27 at the Sportsmen’s Tavern. Additional CD release shows will follow in Boston on August 27, where Hambridge attended the Berklee School of Music and was the recipient of five Boston Music Awards. The last event will be held in Nashville in September. It’s planned to feature many of the top artists and songwriters that Tom has successfully partnered with over the years to write and produce Grammy™ nominated and hit songs and albums.
In addition to his CD release showcases, Hambridge is set to open a number of tour dates in July and August with good friends Lynyrd Skynyrd and, in September/October, with George Thorogood. Hambridge produced the new Thorogood CD, 2120 South Michigan Avenue, a tribute to the iconic Chess Records catalog, released in July from Capitol/EMI Records.
“I’m really looking forward to getting out on tour with Skynyrd and Thorogood and performing for the fans,” Hambridge says about the upcoming dates. “I love playing songs to a live audience and feeling that immediate connection through the music.”
Boom! perfectly showcases not only Tom Hambridge’s skills as a singer and drummer, but also his multiple award-winning talents as a songwriter and producer. He’s backed by an all-star cast of musicians including Delbert McClinton band members Rob McNelley on guitar and Kevin McKendree on keyboards. Other players include long-time Hambridge band member Tommy McDonald on bass, as well as Nashville stalwarts Mark Jordan on piano, Kenny Greenburg on guitar and Michael Rhodes on bass.
Utilizing all of his blues, rock and country influences, songs on Boom! range from the rockin’ opener, “I Keep Things” and closer “I Had a Real Good Time;” to the bluesy “Upside of Lonely,” “Two Thumbs Up,” “Nine Pound Hammer” and “The Pistol;” to the Southern rock/country of “I Got Your Country Right Here”(recorded by Gretchen Wilson - debuted at #6 on Billboard Top Country Album charts) and “Things I Miss the Most,” a Top 100 Billboard Country hit recorded by Donnie and Johnny Van Zant.
Hambridge is on a major roll as a producer and songwriter. He produced blues legend Buddy Guy’s latest CD, Living Proof, which won the 2010 Grammy as Best Contemporary Blues Album, and also recently won Blues Music Awards as Album of the Year, Contemporary Blues Album of the Year and Song of the Year for the title track. Tom also produced Guy’s last Grammy™ nominated album, Skin Deep, which debuted at #1 on the Billboard blues chart and #68 on the Billboard 200 chart. Living Proof surpassed that by debuting at #1 on the blues chart, while also hitting #10 on the Top Rock Albums and #46 on the Top 200, making it Buddy Guy’s highest charting record of all time. “Tom is such a creative writer and musician,” said Guy. “Someone like that comes along only once in a lifetime. I call him the white Willie Dixon!”
Tom’s production credits also include work with B.B. King, Johnny Winter, Susan Tedeschi and Jonny Lang. Regarding his work as a producer, Hambridge says: “I don’t want to make a lot of records … I just want to make a few great records that stand the test of time.”
Record companies, managers and artists come to Hambridge for his production skills which include writing songs, playing, singing, arranging as well as producing the record. Hambridge explains his production style: “Writing and producing music is like building a house to me. I don’t want to come in after it’s built and decorate it or paint it. My job as a songwriter and producer is to find the lot, break ground, pour the foundation, frame it, put the walls up, put in the plumbing and heating … and then can I finally decorate it and paint it. I want that house to be strong and stand the test of time for years to come.”
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