Painting of Tam by Maggie Milne
| Tam White New CD - Hold On | ||
|
||
| Reviews | ||
| Sunday Herald 7th March 2004 | ||
| Reviewed by Sue Wilson | ||
White
lightening **** |
||
| THE LIST **** APRIL 2004 | ||
| Reviewed by Kenny Mathieson | ||
| Another strong outing from an artist who has flirted with bigger things at various points in his career, but - for a variety of reasons - never quite made the final push. Tam is habitually described as a blues singer, and while he has that in his locker beyond any argument, it is far from alone there - rock, R+B, funk, country and jazz all play a part in the totality of his style. His voice has mellowed over the years, and has lost none of it's expressive qualities in the process. Hold On is also a powerful reminder of his strengths as a songwriter, which is how this disc came about in the first place, when film producer Norman Stone decided to make a movie based on the album's last track, Man Dancin'. | ||
| Musician - Journal of the Musicians' Union Spring 2004 | ||
| Reviewed by Kit Packham | ||
| The 11 songs on Hold On have an 'unplugged' atmosphere in the main. white has worked on the blues circuit for many years but some of these tracks (notably Nature of the Beast) could almost be a homage to Bob Dylan. Linda's Hideaway dangerously close to schmaltz, and White's vocal sometimes recalling Johnny Cash (not to mention a line in Falling where he refers to himself as a cowboy), is there also some country influence at work here? Regardless of classifications, Tam's many years of experience show in well-constructed songs, well played, well sung and well arranged. Solos are brief, mostly on guitar and always tasteful an complementary to the song. | ||
| The Inverness Courier - 19th March 2004 | ||
| Reviewed by Calum Macleod | ||
| Former stonemason White has the kind of voice that makes you suspect he didn't so much work with stone as gargle with it. Not what you might call a pretty voice but packed with character. Just the sort of voice you want to sing the blues. he is on more relaxed form here than in some of his past recordings and listening is as pleasurable as an evening in with a fine aged malt. White tips his fedora to jazz and funk with a smidgen of lazy blues and a remake of his earlier "Man Dancin'" to tie in with the release of a feature film which borrows the title. he penned 10 of the 11 tracks. and shows fine form as a songwriter, but listen out for his collaboration with that gifted young lyricist Robert Burns on 'Slave's lament'. It's enough to make you swear the blues were invented on the Annan delta and not the Mississippi. | ||
The musicians on the CD are as follows:
|
