Support Local this Christmas and Give the Gift of Music!

I hope everyone is doing okay, as we are headed into round five of this long bout with COVID. Today is the first day of a long winter ahead.

Musicians have barely had a chance to recover, and now it looks like we will be facing more restrictions that will prevent us from doing our jobs( restrictions are in place in Kingston, already, and in the province of Quebec).

I encourage music fans to think local this Christmas season, and purchase music or merchandise from artists working (or not able to work)and living in your community.

Bandcamp is a wonderful tool for this, as you are able to send music as a gift. Consider sending digital albums this year instead of Christmas cards!

Seeing as I live in Kingston, here are some artists from my community that you should check out:

Miss Emily - https://themissemily.com/order/

The Mill-Rights - https://themillrights.bandcamp.com

The Wilderness - https://www.patreon.com/thewilderness

Megan Hamilton - https://meganhamilton.bandcamp.com

Oakridge Ave - https://oakridgeave.bandcamp.com

Kasador - https://www.patreon.com/kasador

Clem Chesterfield - https://clemchesterfield.bandcamp.com

The Gertrudes - https://thegertrudes.bandcamp.com

The Ropes - https://hughchristopherbrown.bandcamp.com/album/the-ropes

Michael C. Duguay - https://michaelcduguay.bandcamp.com

…and that’s just the tip of the iceberg in this town!

Thanks to My Supporters!

I’ve been very fortunate over the course of this pandemic to have the support of many fans, who have either subscribed to my Bandcamp, or purchased merchandise, to help keep me going. Truly thankful for this! 😌🙏

For my Bandcamp subscribers ( Savage Song Supporters) I’ve done my best to provide interesting and entertaining content  in 2021, and now there are currently 19 titles available to subscribers on the site!

For $5/ month you can stream/download these albums and receive any new albums I post in the future…and there will be more, trust me. 😄

Here’s what has been added to my Bandcamp page in 2021:

Tom Savage Trio - The County Line -I just added this 2008 release. Dirt Road Rock N' Roll! Featuring familiar songs like "The County Line", "The One", and "No-Win Situation".

Dead Root Revival - Live Before Lockdown - Recorded live at The Mansion on March 13th, 2020. The last rock show in Kingston before COVID hit.(subscriber exclusive)

Dead root Revival - Live at the Toucan featuring Chris Rio - A fun night with Chris on vocals recorded at the Toucan in 2019. (subscriber exclusive).

Tom Savage Trio - Overdrive Express Deluxe - The 2012 TST album with 5 previously unreleased bonus tracks, including a barn burning rendition of Townes Van Zandt's "Waiting Around to Die". Also familiar numbers like "Train Keeps A Rollin", "Amarillo", and our famous slide blues version of Dylan's "Down in the Flood". 

Live From the Jam Zone - Session #4 - Savage Family Band - Me, Benji, and Bonz laying down some serious groove here. Live from the basement! (subscriber exclusive)

Live From the Jam Zone - Session #3 - Tom Savage and Mike Corrigan - Me on acoustic guitar and Mike on cajon. Acoustic Blues and Folk vibe. (subscriber exclusive)

Living Room Session - A reissue of my 2011 lo-fi acoustic folk EP. 

Live @ The Acoustic Grill - This 2009 release was on Bandcamp already, but I added it as part of the subscription package. Among the songs on this album are "Northern Ontario Highway" and "You'll Come Around To Me".

Lots of music out there to appreciate and support. Please spread the love around this Christmas season!

Stay Safe,

Tom

"Something Real" A song for these uncertain times

Below is a post I shared recently on social media regarding the current reality artists find themselves in. Starting today, I will beginning a new approach to how I release my music in an attempt to adjust to these uncertain times.

________________________

I’m a working class musician. Have been for my entire adult life. In that time I’ve also been a staunch defender of the artist’s life, and the importance of art in our society.

We need art. We need music. We need movies. We need photographs. Art helps us process emotions and reflects our world back at us in order for us to better understand ourselves, each other, the universe.

We are at a crossroads. COVID-19 has dealt a major blow to performing artists, and will continue to do so. For how long is anybody’s guess. Summer provides some performance opportunities with patios and other outdoor venues, but when fall/winter hit, I feel the realities of the situation are going to start to hit home. CERB comes to an end in September. This is going to be a crushing blow for artists, the self-employed, and for the economy in general. I feel the Canadian government needs to implement a universal basic income through the tax system, or Canada will be in danger of seeing mass evictions and homelessness rivaling, or eclipsing that of the Great Depression.

However, I am skeptical that they will answer the call that history is making.

So, where does that leave me? How do I make a living?

I've been scratching my head, trying to figure out my next move. I'm a live performer. My summer schedule was reduced from 60 shows to 4, pretty much in a blink of an eye on March 17th. The internet has always provided me with very little in the way of income, but I am now faced with the harsh reality that the internet may be my biggest tool in earning an income. This is scary stuff!

The upside of this COVID mess is that I've had a lot of time to be creative. As a DIY musician, I've always spent more time running my business than I would have liked, and not enough time allowing the artistic process to flow unencumbered. These past months, with the turmoil in this world, have provided much inspiration for songwriting, and I am thankful to have a home studio in which to allow my ideas to take shape.

Over the next weeks and months I'll be sharing my creations with you, and I am asking for your support in my efforts by subscribing to my Bandcamp VIP member page ( http://tomsavage.bandcamp.com ). You will receive all my new creative output, exclusive content and merchandise, and help me raise funds for an eventual vinyl release of my next album.

I thank you all for your support of my music over these many years. It is now, in these most difficult and surreal times, that we need to make the internet a viable marketplace for artists and musicians. We need to stop the devaluation of music that started well before, but has now been accelerated by COVID-19.

Join me!

"Something Real" is the first in a series of releases over the coming weeks and months. It's definitely a song that relates to what is happening in the world right now, so I felt it should be first out of the gate. Thanks to Jason Mercer for contributing bass and synth tracks to this cut.

Something Real - words and music by Tom Savage

Flying on the edge of darkness
Straining to get a glimpse of the light
Can you live a life without purpose
Can you give up without a fight

When the enemy is in the shadows
The only thing you feel or see
When the truth is always the wrong answer
When Facts are made by order of decree

We want Love we want life we want liberty
And justice for one and all
Put a business suit on a tyrant
And say prosperity will come to call
Who’s prospering around here? I don’t see much of that. All I see is a hopeless tide

You keep saying work hard it will be alright. I call that propping up an age old lie

Is anything real
Is anything real
Is anything real

The bank says don’t pay until later
But the interest will keep piling on high
Business as usual when nothing is usual
A practice nobody seems to decry

I’m falling you’re falling we’re falling
One way trip down into the abyss
Looking for some kind of sign this ain’t all just a dream

Is anything real
Is anything real
I want something real

Tomorrow is the answer to the questions we all have
Hang onto each other
Hang onto the love

I’m falling you’re falling we’re falling
We pull each other up out of this
I’m dreaming you’re dreaming we’re dreaming
A better day is gonna come

And the change will be real
Yeah the change will be real

I want something real

tomsavage.bandcamp.com

Let's Keep the Music Alive!

One week left in the "Driftwood - Remembering Sandy Stubbert" GoFundMe campaign. Thanks to everyone who has contributed so far. It feels good to be sending Sandy's music out across the country. She put her heart and soul into this record and would have loved that it is being heard.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/sandystubbert

We are wrapping up the campaign on June 15th, so get your donation in if you haven't already. Raising funds for AMHS-KFLA (Addiction and Mental Health Services, Kingston Frontenac Lennox and Addington) and MIKES (Music Industry Kingston Emergency Support).

DRR Live Stream from The Toucan

Dead Root Revival has been on a forced hiatus due to COVID-19, so we were most thankful for the opportunity to perform at our hometown pub again, even if there was no audience. The rock show is definitely another energy level!

Here is the full concert for your viewing and listening pleasure!

As the country continues to reopen, many in the arts community will be left behind, with no live shows aside from some possible summertime outdoor activities. Art is a vital part of our society, and I encourage everyone to do what they can to support the many artists who are in need at this time. This can be done by purchasing merchandise or sending virtual tips for livestreams, but also I encourage you to lobby local, provincial, and federal governments to continue (or give funding to new)programs that support artists during these drastic times.

Let's keep the music alive!
Tom

Staying at Home = Staying Creative

I hope you are doing as well as can be expected under these unprecedented circumstances we find ourselves in. After the initial shock, and coming to terms with the fact that I may not be able to perform live for several weeks or months, I've settled into a fairly productive creative time.

Still hoping the government relief is simple and straightforward to access for everyone who needs it(basically the entire service industry, which the live music business falls under), but aside from that I'm finding multiple projects to keep me busy. In addition to music, I've been cooking and baking, and with nicer weather on its way, I look forward to getting out to work on the back garden.

Being a DIY musician for many years, I've often imagined what it would be like to be able to focus solely on the art of making music, and not have to worry about booking and promoting shows, and the additional tasks that come with the job. COVID-19 has provided artists such as myself the opportunity to do just that. 

Check out my girlfriend  @kritchiephoto on instagram to see her beautiful isolation creations - https://www.instagram.com/kritchiephoto/

Before capitalist society came to a grinding halt, my friend and neighbour Kevin Bowers and I had begun to work on a recording project, so we dove right in when the self-isolation guidelines kicked in, and plan to record remotely with collaborators Jason Mercer, Chris Brown, and Pete Bowers to finish up the works.

Have a listen to Alcatraz:  https://youtu.be/uxbw2_dYT_M

This time of self-isolation also gave me the opportunity to go back and take another look at the song, and see where I could take it. Have a listen and share it around.

The song is called "Beach Blanket Bingo Bottle Toke". One of my favourite titles of all time! - http://tomsavage.bandcamp.com

The guitar and vocal for this song were tracked during sessions for my 2014 record "History of a Common Man". Same day as the opening track for that album, "Skinny Kid", and played on the same $40 flea market nylon string guitar (an El Degas for those who are curious). The song didn't quite fit with the mood of that album, at least from a production standpoint. I envisioned something different than the Country Folk sounds on "History". More like Space Folk or something...Blade Runner Folk?

I also worked on this cool video project with Tony Silvestri - https://fundrazr.com/tonystipjar He's raising funds for his long-awaited and soon-to-be-released album!

Stay creative,

Tom