Tom Burris
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tom Burris is an American rock singer/songwriter.
[edit] History
Known for impeccable song-craft and impassioned performances, Tom got his start with Jabbering Trout, a band he formed in 1995. Based in Boston, they toured the country heavily, opening for the likes of Jeff Buckley and Ani DiFranco, built a strong fan base, and put out two self-released CDs in the mid-'90s.
The pieces began to fall into place in New York, where Tom became a regular at lower eastside venues. Through tried-and-true grassroots word of mouth, folks started filling his Manhattan gigs. Without intending to, Burris found himself right back in the thick of a burgeoning music career.
Then, due to a bit of unlikely serendipity, copies of Tom's Jabbering Trout CDs landed in the hands of producer John Alagia. Alagia, whose work includes Dave Matthews Band, John Mayer and Ben Folds Five, became a fan of the music from out-of-the-blue and soon went looking for Burris. He found Tom playing a solo show in New York's Living Room and immediately began hatching plans to get Tom into the studio. As Alagia put it: "Tom has the killer combo of beautiful, heartfelt songs delivered by a compassionate and compelling voice."
During this period, Tom had begun to flesh out his original, sparse combination of guitar, vocals, harmonica and percussion. He experimented with different combinations of accompaniment and, in the studio, he found Alagia to be the perfect partner. At Applehead Studios in Woodstock, NY, Tom and Alagia recorded what would become For Sale, dressing-up essentially folk-based pop songs with keyboards, strings, and even (on "Sailor Song") an electric sitar.
Soon thereafter, Tomato Records signed Tom as their first new artist on the revitalized label, once the home to the legendary likes of Townes Van Zandt, Albert King and John Lee Hooker. "The most important criterion for signing a new artist to Tomato is that they're capable of creating a unique, lasting body of work that contributes to ongoing musical conversation begun by the greats that have come before," says Tomato founder Kevin Eggers. "Tom Burris' talent as a songwriter and artist does just that."
