TOM HAMBRIDGE WINS BLUES BLAST MUSIC AWARD AS SONG OF THE YEAR FOR “LIVING PROOF”

TOM HAMBRIDGE WINS BLUES BLAST MUSIC AWARD AS SONG OF THE YEAR FOR

“LIVING PROOF”

DURING HIS PERFORMANCE AT THE AWARDS SHOW, TOM WAS JOINED ONSTAGE BY

BUDDY GUY

CHICAGO, IL – Musician and producer Tom Hambridge, whose latest CD, Boom!, continues to generate rave reviews and significant radio airplay, won the 2011 Blues Blast Music Award for “Song of the Year” in ceremonies Thursday night (October 27) at Buddy Guy’s Legends club in Chicago. Appropriately, Hambridge won the award for the title track he wrote on Buddy Guy’s hit album, Living Proof, which Tom also produced. Living Proof also won for “Contemporary Blues CD” and Buddy Guy won additional honors as “Male Blues Artist.” The entire show was broadcast live on radio station WGLT-FM and available on the internet.

Tom Hambridge, currently on tour as special guest with ZZ Top and Lynyrd Skynyrd, played his own show earlier that night in Rockford, Illinois, before driving to Chicago, where he promptly performed a short set at the awards show. Tom sang and played drums, accompanied by Buddy Guy band keyboardist Marty Sammon, as well as bassist Melvin Smith and guitarist Peter Galanis, treating the crowd to his songs, “Get Off,” from his Bang ‘n’ Roll album, and “Upside of Lonely” off his new CD. The crowd went wild when Tom then brought the legend himself, Buddy Guy, up onstage to sing “Let the Door Knob Hit Ya’” (which Tom co-wrote with Buddy) off his Living Proof album.

Since it’s release in late August, Boom! has generated tremendous critical acclaim for Tom Hambridge. Here’s a sampling:

“Boom! is a fun and well-crafted studio album that highlights the work of a solid group of musicians, the talent of a gifted singer/songwriter and a collection of memorable songs that may help Hambridge finally find the kind of commercial success as a solo artist that he has so often received as a producer and composer in the past.”

- J. Blake, American Blues News

“Roots rock is the new country and ex-Bostonian Tom Hambridge is the style's current MVP. That's a role he played for years in Beanburg, leading the redoubtable bar band T.H. & the Wreckage and playing drums for legends like Chuck Berry and Roy Buchanan. But after producing Susan Tedeschi's Grammy-nominated Just Won't Burn, he skedaddled to Nashville and raised the ante by climbing up the Americana charts with his solo discs, winning Grammies with Buddy Guy and co-writing massive hits for Keith Anderson, Gretchen Wilson, and other mainstream sharpies. On Boom!, Hambridge pokes every corner of his roots, rock, and blues bag, nailing down grinders like the six-string slider ‘Never Gonna Change’ and the clever heartbreaker ‘Upside of Lonely’ with the help of ringers from Delbert McClinton's versatile band. He also reclaims the stinger ‘I Got Your Country Right Here,’ which was a hit for Wilson. His voice has grown some growl and sprung a drawl, but both suit him well as he delivers these roadhouse anthems with double-shots of conviction.” - Ted Drozdowski, Boston Phoenix

“It just might be true that the best rock ‘n’ roll music today is coming out of Nashville, Tennessee, the home of country music. Tom Hambridge’s new CD, Boom!, makes a convincing argument for the truth to that statement. Boom! showcases Tom in all his disguises; first call studio drummer, outstanding vocalist, Grammy® Award-Winning Producer, ASCAP Award winning singer/songwriter, and Blues Music Award winner on multiple occasions. This is roots rock at its best, with its feet firmly spread all over the musical map of influence; blues, 60’s rock n roll, country, southern rock, and folk.” – Robert Carraher, The Dirty Lowdown