Tom Gillam Bio 2009-2010

“The edgier side of Americana coupled with a healthy dose of 70’s guitar rock” is how one magazine described Tom Gillam’s music and that’s not too far off the mark. In a career that spans five studio releases and one live album, Gillam has carved out a special place in popular music he can easily call his own. His brilliant songwriting, whiskey tenor voice, and stinging slide guitar have become well known, not only to his fans here in the United States but also, in recent years, to audiences in Europe as well. His brand new album “Had Enough?” opens a new chapter in this remarkable musician’s story.
Co-produced by long time friend & producer Joe Carroll and recorded after Tom relocated from Philadelphia to his new home in Austin TX, “Had Enough?” has a decidedly ‘Texas feel’ to it; due largely to the addition of some talented Austin friends. Joining the musical line up this time out are former Alejandro Escovado guitarist Alan Durham, bassist Michael “Cornbread” Traylor (Billy Joe Shaver, Bruce Robison) and drummer Vicente Rodriguez (Sisters Morales), along with guest spots by Ed Jurdi (Band of Heathens), Guy Forsyth, and singer/songwriter Penny Jo Pullus. Add this potent mix to Gillam’s regular backing band Tractor Pull, and it becomes obvious that this record is something special.
Fans of Gillam’s previous CD’s will not be disappointed by this latest effort. “Had Enough?” contains plenty of what now has become Tom’s calling card; catchy Ameri-Pop melodies and walls of rock guitar, lyrically however, it seems he may have become comfortable enough with both himself and his audience to open up a bit more . This may be attributed, in part, to the 2006 heart-attack Tom survived and his subsequent clean & sober lifestyle that followed. Finding the deeper meanings in lyrics of heartfelt songs like “Ready to Begin” and “Good Morning” may be quite easy; other tracks, however, like “Tear in the Rain”, “Weary Game”, or the aching “(When you) Come Around” might seem, on the surface, like ‘pop song 101’, but closer scrutiny finds Gillam mining areas that take on a whole new level of depth.
That’s not to say the guy who once wrote he lived his life a little “Outside the Lines” doesn’t still ‘rock’. The opening track and single “Real Thing” (co written by Tractor Pull alum. Craig Simon) hits his listeners with a one /two punch of Texas R&R that’s as hard as any of Gillam’s previous work. Propelled by a new found sense of urgency that can be attributed to the addition of his Austin compatriots, Real Thing is all that Tom Gillam was and will be, packed into a four minute rock jam. The rest of “Had Enough?” is peppered with Gillam and band rocking at the top of their game. The swampy grooves of “Ride”, the hard hitting title track “Had Enough”, and even the whimsical tunes like “She was a dancer…” and “Nothing” have an intensity that may have been only hinted at on earlier CD’s but have now come to full fruition.
A change in zip code, a change in lifestyle, and a change in attitude have brought Tom Gillam to this place in time and his future seems as endless as a Texas skyline. Perhaps Allmusic.com put it best when they advised listeners to” file Tom Gillam under highly recommended”.