Bman's Blues Report: Crooked Eye Tommy Performs at California Avocado Festival

CROOKED EYE TOMMY PERFORMS@CALIFORNIA AVOCADO FESTIVAL

Saturday, October 3 - 1 P.M./Main Stage/Downtown Carpinteria

(Carpinteria, CA) - Crooked Eye Tommy is lighting up the Blues scene and quickly raising their profile in the international music community with their critically-lauded new album, Butterflies & Snakes. The Ventura County, California quartet fronted by brothers Tommy and Paddy Marsh have also become a favorite on the Festival circuit, with performances this year at the Ojai Blues Festival, Ventura County Blues festival, New Blues Festival, and now - an appearance at the 29th Annual California Avocado Festival, in downtown Carpinteria, on Saturday, October 3. Main Stage, 1 p.m. Info: (805) 684-0038 or http://avofest.com/.

The eleven originals on Butterflies & Snakes run a rich gamut of sound, with no two songs sounding the same. From the deep-fried Southern blues of autobiographical title track "Crooked Eye Tommy" and down-home traditional-sounding "I Stole The Blues" (written and sung by Paddy Marsh) to the sexy blues shuffle "Somebody's Got To Pay" and album-ending, country-tinged "Southern Heart", there truly is something for virtually every music aficionado to like on the record. Butterflies & Snakes has received worldwide airplay and has been featured twice on the nationally-syndicated Blues Deluxe radio show, in addition to cracking the Roots Music Report's Top 50 California Album Chart. Crooked Eye Tommy recently took home "Best Blues Act" at the 2015 Ventura County (Calif.) Music Awards.

CROOKED EYE TOMMY - "BUTTERFLIES & SNAKES" - MEDIA QUOTES

"The title track kicks off with a swampy slide, crawling king snake Mississippi Delta groove. You settle right in ready for some stories told only the way bluesmen do. I'd like to say Tommy (Marsh) reminds me of Robert Cray meets Molly Hatchet. Tommy's brother, Paddy Marsh, wrote three songs on the album including "I Stole The Blues", a good traditional-sounding song that treats the sometimes campy subject of musical thievery very matter-of-factly, with reverence and with soul".

BLUES-E-NEWS

"Recorded live in Ojai's Brotheryn Studios, Crooked Eye Tommy's first full-length offers an unsweetened, 100-proof taste of its Southern-soaked blues-rock and a reintroduction to some of the area's finest musicians. CET's range is evident all over this record as it goes from the bedroom to to the dance floor with "Mad and Disgusted", a full-tilt boogie-woogie number from the gut".

VC REPORTER

"Depend on Crooked-Eye Tommy to SET YOU STRAIGHT about great blues and good music!"

BLUES DELUXE

(Nationally-Syndicated Radio Show)

"Eleven excellent songs, ranging from down-home blues, to rockers and ballads..favorite songs are blues shuffles, "I Stole The Blues" and "Somebody's Got To Pay", and the dance-able "Love Divine", with the beautiful twin guitar work of the Marsh Brothers, (Tommy and Paddy). Who dares to bring them to The Netherlands?"

BLUESZINE

"Crooked Eye Tommy does a great job of explaing the blues the way its supposed to sound. Brothers Tommy and Paddy Marsh tell their stories clearly and back them up with plenty of sizzle. Rhythmically, the band keeps everything moving at a steady pace that's as comfortable as hearbeats in bed".

SOUTHLAND BLUES

"A rocking blues powerhouse...Southern-style blues with chops and taste... I like a blues band that wants to sound like a blues band, not a group of guys just waiting to get the next screamin' solo. These guys get it done--it sounds like they all turned down the volume just a little and they all play together beautifully."

SUNDAY NIGHT BLUES PROJECT

"Opening with a cool blend of John Bonham- style rhythm and early Lynyrd Skynyrd swagger, the title track tells a crazy myth of Crooked Eye Tommy. Jimmy Reed-style track, I Stole The Blues, stays tight in the groove with rich vocals from Paddy Marsh (who wrote the track) and hot sax work from Jimmy Calire. The release is wrapped up with a pop country track, Southern Heart, which could easily make a run on the country radio market."

BMANS BLUES REPORT