Saturday Night Special: Tom Blackwell

"Anyone who has seen Tom Blackwell perform in one of the small,
forgotten venues across the North of England he has haunted for over a
decade will have witnessed a truly sublime singer-songwriter
distilling his blues, folk, soul and gospel influences into what Bob
Harris has rightly described as, 'Wonderful, heartfelt music'.

The essence of everything Blackwell does is in his singing voice - as
plaintive and soulful an instrument as you could hope to hear. On
stage he may punctuate with mournful harmonica and emphasise with
expressive guitar, but it is the vocal that is the heart-rending
centre of his art.

Blackwell sings his songs as if he is living them. Authentic songs
that feel as if they are coming to you rolling across the plains and
through dusty mid-Western streets. Songs that present all the
emotional texture and depth of classic Americana - telling stories of
bruised hopes, and fragmented settlements between yearning and loss.

Honest, without artifice, Blackwell's music just is what it is, and
that is something genuinely remarkable."