Kingston Release Show SOLD OUT!! Belleville Release Show ADDED! plus Wintertide Meltdown 2

It certainly was a surprise, the speed with which our Kingston album release concert sold out! A welcome change, as many times we are holding our collective breath days before a concert, wondering if people are going to show up. 

We definitely feel your excitement and enthusiasm for this new album, and we are equally excited to share it with you. We'll be performing the album in its entirety for our first set at The Broom Factory on March 9th, then we will return to rock out some more after a brief intermission, and a chance to mingle with the crowd(and hopefully sell copious amounts of merchandise).

It's gonna be great!! 

BELLEVILLE RELEASE SHOW ADDED

Many of our fans also did not anticipate our Kingston show selling out so quickly, so for that reason, we've decided to add a Belleville album release concert on Friday, March 22nd to give our fans in the Quinte/Prince Edward County regions a chance to celebrate this rock and roll achievement with us. Tickets will move fast so act now!!

WINTERTIDE MELTDOWN 2

For those of you in the Kingston/Sharbot Lake/Westport regions that didn't get a chance to buy your ticket for the album release show, come get your DRR fix at Wintertide Meltdown 2 at Oso Hall in Sharbot Lake on Saturday, February 24th. We put on this event last year with a couple of local businesses(Frenchie's Chip Hut and K & P Brewing) and it was so much fun that we decided to do it again!

This time around Frenchie's is offering a dinner option, so you can take in the concert AND have a great meal for the incredible price of $55!! When purchasing your tickets you can choose between beef, chicken, or vegetarian options.

Grab your tickets today and let us know you value us bringing these type of high quality concert events to smaller communities.



See you at the rock show!

Tom

One Year of Tunesdays plus the DRR Rock n' Roll Experience

 I feel I've been shouting this from the rooftops for years: Live music = Community. Music is an integral component of our collective mental health as a society. It brings people together. Whether in a participatory fashion through community choirs and orchestras, open mics and jams, in passive engagement with intensive listening, or in a casual setting where music is the backdrop used as an opportunity for socialization.

The beauty of the TUNESDAY open mic at the RCHA is that it brings all of these components together with the added bonus of accessibility due to the early hour of the event (4-7 PM). It is a joy to see the dance floor full at 5 PM on a Tuesday afternoon(with some of the dancers in their mid-eighties! There's no age limit on having fun!).

This Tuesday marks one year since we started the mighty TUNESDAY jam. Thanks to all of you who have made it an overwhelming success.
Come celebrate with us. Rumour has it that there will be cake!
And pizza too of course. ; )

Dead Root Revival Concerts

I often feel a bit embarrassed, seemingly tooting my own horn about DRR, but really I'm not. I'm simply repeating what fans new-and-old tell me at the end of every concert we play. I wish I could bottle their enthusiasm. I wish I could convey the overwhelmingly positive(oftentimes profound and emotional) experience to those who have never taken in one of our shows...

...but barring the act of me shoving a phone in their face to record these testimonials...

I'm not gonna do that.

What I will do is continue to tirelessly promote this band! I'm fast-approaching my 50th birthday...I've spent 30 years (and recorded 11 albums..??) as a musician/songwriter. To be creating and performing some of the best music of my career, with this scarily super-tight band of musicians, with collectively over 100 years of stage experience...well, it's a sincere honour and privilege.

Yet, it's still at times like pulling teeth to convince people to buy tickets for our shows. As my friend Seamus Cowan said to me recently, in regards to concert promotion, "It's a heart attack game!" So true!

DRR put on our own shows or work with small independent promoters. We are attempting to operate outside of the traditional music industry structure. No agents, no managers, no record labels, no Live Nation, no Ticketmaster. This is grass roots rock and roll. For my money, that's where the true spirit of rock and roll lies.

Why wouldn't you want to be a part of that?

Prince Edward County and Kingston, here is your opportunity.

Join the Revival!

The unofficial Pumpkinfest kickoff concert!
Tickets available:
Wellington Legion - $15
Eventbrite - $15 + fees
$20 at the door
or contact organizer at:
780-691-2887
or lowperchproductions@gmail.com

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/dead-root-revival-with-tony-forbes-tickets-718507765067




https://www.eventbrite.com/e/704546195637

Dead Root Revival return to rock Blu Martini in Kingston for our fall concert, this time with special guest Josh Piché(Toronto)!

Yours in music,
Tom

What An Unbelievable Week! Guitars Stolen AND Returned in 7 Days!!

What an unbelievable week indeed! Between Saturday, May 13th and Saturday May 20th, I had my guitars stolen, I had a facebook post about the incident go viral, along with an outpouring of support from the Kingston community and people across Canada, and the guitars were returned to me! Nothing short of amazing!! 🤯

This all started on Saturday, May 13th. I had my gear loaded for a show at Sam's Place out in Prince Edward County, and stopped at the K&P trail(Kingston area) for a walk. A rural part of the trail surrounded by farmland, I might add. I think this is an important detail as some folks on social media assumed I was in the city limits, and more specifically, parked near a homeless encampment...

When I returned to the van it had been broken into(they ripped the passenger side door handle off) and they stole my signature Gibson Nighthawk guitar and an Epiphone Wildkat that Richard Piche (bassist for Dead Root Revival) had just modified with two 1967 Dearmond gold foil pickups. It was a gut punch for sure. I immediately raced home and put up a post on social media with a desperate plea for help in finding the guitars. Facebook responded in kind! In less than two hours, my post was shared over 1000 times, ultimately reaching 7800 shares over the course of the week, and offers of gear and messages of support flowed in. It was a truly heartwarming and overwhelming experience. ❤️


Then on Saturday, May 20th at 10:30 AM, almost exactly the same time of day they were taken from me a week before, my guitars were returned.


https://www.thewhig.com/news/kingston-musician-hoping-for-return-of-stolen-guitars-gear






Naturally, there has been quite a lot of curiosity out there, as to how the whole thing went down. How did I get my guitars back?

First off, I’ll say that this wouldn’t have happened without the social media reaction and the almost 8000 shares my original post received on Facebook alone. That really put the pressure on the thief or thieves.

I always had a good feeling that I would get my guitars back someday because of the unique nature of the models I have. No one plays a Nighthawk really and definitely nobody has an Epiphone Wildkat with gold foil pickups. However, I thought it would take a long time.

But when I woke up on Friday morning, there was a message on my phone from a friend of mine saying he had a lead on the guitars…and he sent pics! I was shocked! The thief probably had reached out to someone in hopes of moving the gear….and the pics had been passed on down the line. But it had become abundantly clear that nobody was going to touch these guitars! They had become some of the most recognizable instruments in the country in a matter of days(hours even!), so the thief switched gears and decided to add to their criminal repertoire by attempting extortion.

They delivered a message to me through back channels that I was to pay a ransom of $1500 if I wanted my guitars back.

I offered an alternative. Deliver my guitars, and do the right thing, or face a not-insignificant amount of jail time for theft over $5000. Through my friend the message was delivered and a deadline was set for a response by Friday afternoon.

Not long after this occurred on Friday morning, another friend, from the Kingston Police force, contacted me. He saw that I’d filed a report and offered assistance. He also works as tour manager for 54-40, who had been a victim of Guitarjackers a few years back( 7 guitars stolen, 6 returned).

I told him about the developments in the case and that I was waiting to see if the situation could be resolved without police involvement.

By 2 PM on Friday afternoon, there had been no communication from the Guitarjackers, so I asked him to intervene. He dispatched two constables to knock on doors and start following the trail. The next morning I checked in with him and he assured me the officers were working the case, were 3 or 4 links down the chain towards finding my guitars, and it was only a matter of time. Not even an hour after that, my friend (with connections to the other side of the law 😄 ) called me saying he had picked up the guitars. Unbelievable!!


https://www.thewhig.com/news/kingston-musicians-stolen-guitars-returned-one-week-after-going-missing




The three factors in getting this resolved:

1. Social media - this put such intense pressure on the thief and gave them nowhere to move these instruments.

2. People wanting to do the right thing. Even those who deal in stolen goods wouldn't touch these guitars. The heat was a factor for sure, but from what I understand of the situation, there was considerable pressure applied from those on the street to convince the thief to part with my guitars.

3. The police pressure. It was made known to the thieving party that the police were closing in and it would only be a matter of time before they were arrested.

Some of you will be disappointed that were no arrests. I’m just happy to have my instruments back, but I do hope that the thief will think twice next time, because they definitely got more than they bargained for when they broke into my van.


Thanks again to everyone who shared my posts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. You collectively played a big part in bringing my guitars home!


If you want to see these guitars in action come see a Dead Root Revival show. They've got extra MOJO now!!

Catch DRR at the Rainbow in Ottawa on Saturday, June 3rd - Tickets
or in Kingston at the RCHA on Saturday, June 10th - Tickets



Rock and Roll!
Tom

Exciting Announcement: Dead Root Revival set to Record New Album with Producer David Barbe(Drive-By Truckers, Son Volt, R.E.M.)

It has been a great musical beginning to 2023! A couple of amazing concert events for Dead Root Revival, first in Sharbot Lake, collaborating with Frenchie's Chip Hut and K&P Brewing to put on the first annual Wintertide Meltdown on January 13th, then performing to a sold out audience at Sans Souci in Belleville on January 28th. Both of these concerts were incredible community gatherings. We as a band are thankful for the support of our fans(old and new), and are feeling the momentum as we shift our focus to performing the majority of our shows as ticketed events. The quality of these shared experiences, and interaction between audience and performers, is definitely spurring us on to continue down this path. 

Tunesday Afternoon Jam

Music is such an important tool in bringing people together, and expression of art on any level should be encouraged and nurtured, for the health of a community. There was a time not long ago in human history, that if you wanted to be entertained by music, you would have to learn to play an instrument, or sing, or (going way back) bang a couple of bones together. A time before radio, before recorded music. With the advent of technology, we as a society have turned more passive than active in how we experience, and how we digest music.  More background music everywhere you go(except Dollar Tree...I'm a big fan of their no background music policy), more mindless streaming, dismissing a song if one is not hooked within 30 seconds(I’ve often listened to an album 10 times through before I truly appreciated what it had to offer), and less engaged listening and learning of instruments/performing, then in the past.

My grandmother was a piano teacher and choir director. My mother was piano teacher and choir director. I've only ever dabbled in teaching, but I have been running various jams/open mic nights for over twenty years now, so I suppose I am a third generation nurturer of musical talents, working to shift the balance between active and passive engagement in music. All of this is a long-winded way of saying that I'm so pleased with the success of the "Tunesday" Afternoon jam at the RCHA in Kingston. I want to thank everyone who has been coming out on Tuesday afternoons (from 4-7 PM, Happy Hour drink specials 😁 ) for their enthusiasm and encouragement of the musicians on stage(I can tell you the players really enjoy the jazz club-style practice of applauding after solos), the dancing, the community spirit, the laughter. These afternoons have shown me the essential need for a relaxed, welcoming, environment for musicians and music lovers to gather, particularly in the afternoon and early evening. As our society ages I feel events in this time slot will become even more essential for our collective mental and spiritual health. Here's to many, many more Tunesdays to come!! 💃🏻🕺

DRR is Georgia Bound!

In other super-exciting news: Dead Root Revival is heading to Athens, Georgia in March to record our debut studio album(!) with none other than legendary producer David Barbe, who has worked with the likes of Drive-By Truckers, Son Volt, and R.E.M., among many others. 🤯😎🤘

I personally have been impressed by David's production style since I picked up the DBT album, The Dirty South at a CD store in Calgary while the Tom Savage Trio was on tour, way back in 2008. We wore that record out in the ol' Sienna CD player on that run. What struck me was the tonal warmth and rock and roll power of that recording. After talking with David, I now know that this is a result of the recording process. Completely analog. Reel-to-reel tape!

He says his process is very much like making a record back in the '70s and this couldn't be a better fit for DRR and our music. We are so stoked!

We are having a couple of concerts to raise funds for our travel expenses down to Georgia and back.

Feb. 18th at the Gananoque legion

Dead Root Revival with special guests Weathered Siding and Old Pony

Royal Canadian Legion, Branch 92

55 King Street East Gananoque, ON K7G 1E8

Doors at 7 PM/ Show at 8 PM

$15 advance/$20 at the door

Tickets available online : https://www.eventbrite.com/e/520236911607

Folks living in Gan can purchase in person from the DRR rhythm section (Bonz or Richard), or from Mike Corrigan at the Wooden Boat Shop

and

Feb. 25th at Blu Martini in Kingston

Dead Root Revival with special guest Graven.

BLU Martini 178 Ontario Street Kingston, ON K7L 2Y8

Doors at 8 PM/ Show at 9 PM

$15 advance/$20 at the door

Tickets available online - https://www.eventbrite.com/e/520234424167

or from me in person(drop by the Tunesday jam and pick them up) or via etransfer to tomsavagemusic@gmail.com

We hope you'll buy a ticket for one(or both) of these shows and help us out as we embark on our greatest rock and roll quest!

Cheers, Tom