I was up in Trinity County in the 70s and had just sold my truck to my cousin Dave. (He never paid me). I was living with friends on their property and there was only a single highway between Eureka and Redding cities…150 miles apart. When hitchhiking on that road, it was more common to see logging trucks than anyone else. My sweet Labrador mix Smiling was my companion. So I wrote a song while waiting.

Thomases Promises

These are my vocal treatments of some jazz standards that I performed with the Adult Ed Vocal Jazz Workshop under Kim Collins a few years back. This is a bluesy vocal exercise with lyrics about an amazing crazy gal named Susan who was a very talented girl who wouldn't get out of my head and heart. In fact I wrote a lot of songs about our non-relationship.

Cruzin  for a Bluesin

Sweetenin' My Life

Screwed Driver

An anthem tribute to a great town and the community that lives here..I originally wrote a song called "A Toast to the Coast" in 1970s, and in 2004 Santa Barbara held a songwriting contest for their Fiesta celebrations. I used the skeleton of my original song and changed the lyrics to fit the contest. I recorded the acoustic nylon string part on my Fender acoustic electric guitar, the electric guitar part on my Ibanez Electric guitar, the keyboard part on my Roland RD keyboard, the rhythm and backup guitar on my 1950s Harmony Patrician Arched-top 'f-hole' guitar. I added parts from my Ibanez Electric bass guitar last year but the vocals are from 2004.

 It didn't win.

Viva Santa Barbara

I was attending a songwriting workshop and we were asked to  play a game of 'musical telephone' in which someone would whisper a melodic phrase to the person next to them in a circle and try to pass it along. After the game, I wrote the lyrics to this tune and titled it inspired by the game.

Do The Dumb Ditty Duty

I was playing this video game back in the 70s, and every time I would get 'killed' and 'reborn' it would make a little chromatic echappe and a single note. I wrote a melody off of it. I tried to pen some lyrics but it never really came together. Still, I like the tune.

Mr Wimpy

I originally composed and recorded this in 1980s about the FOF, but found it hard to remaster so I rerecorded the bass on my Ibanez Electric Bass guitar, keys on my Casio Privia keyboard, rhythm and lead guitar parts from my Ibanez Electric guitar with Roland Cube effects over an iReal app backing drum track along with new lead vocals and harmonies.

Friend of a Friend

Out of the Rain

I wrote this song on Highway 299 between Redding and Eureka in Northern California back in the 1970s. I was trying to hitchhike with my mandolin and my Labrador "Smiling" to a bluegrass jam session in Willow Creek.

Another Jam

I wrote this in the 1970s about a friend. I rerecorded it over an iReal app backing track drumbeat on my Ibanez Electric 6-string with Roland Cube effects in the 2000s , I added bass from my Ibanez electric bass and reharmonized vocals last year.

Over Again

My friends Rotten Robert Kaufmann and his girlfriend Deb Smith inspired me to chronicle their journey from Houston to the Trinity Alps in Northern California.

The Good Life

The Other Side

I wrote this for an Open Mic but never got to perform it there...maybe some day

Ease Up

Realization

Stray Dog

Tom is a self-taught instrumentalist on keyboards, guitar, bass, ukulele, mandolin and a few others. He played with his high school friends growing up but did not perform publicly. 

In 1974 Tom was up in Trinity County, upper California living with friends on their property and there was only a single highway between Eureka and Redding cities…150 miles apart. When hitchhiking on that road, it was more common to see logging trucks than anyone else. His sweet Labrador mix Smiling was his companion. So he wrote a song, Another Jam, while waiting. He began writing more songs in that period of time and those are the ones we find here. He also played and performed on mandolin in a bluegrass band.

During the 70s Tom attended Santa Barbara City College as a Music Major, studying music theory and composition, physics of music and around the end of that decade discovered an affinity for jazz. Along with a vocalist, Tana Bronk and two OTHER guitarists,Brian Fanning and Patrick Miller, co-founded The Monterey Jazz Band, who along with drummer Wendell Lovett began to perform during the 80s around the area, including a memorable showcase performance on local television.

Then in 2001 Tom met a guitarist, Bob Petty, and began a collaboration that lasted a year. He played lead guitar and sang harmonies on several Classic Rock pieces from the 60s and 70s. 

Tom got together iiin 2004 with former Monterey Jazz bandmate bassist Patrick Miller and they formed a duo playing guitars and singing classic Country music around the area. 

In 2005, after attending an Adult Ed Jazz Combo Workshop, he co-founded the Montecito Jazz Project band, playing bass guitar with drummer Tom Ray, guitarist Mark Coffin and saxophonist Jeff Regan. The group began performing locally, adding on keyboardists and soloists from the community when appropriate and including vocalists if desired or needed. 

Around 2010 Tom joined local classic rock bands Pie and then with bandmates Guy Brown,  Stan Krome, Kate Ingalls, co-formed Classy Croc as keyboardist and vocalist, then Mersey Mob band  and after that Dark Street Kiss as their bassist and vocalist.

Tom shortly after discovered the joy of ukulele when he took an Adult Education class on it and began a love affair with that instrument He later TAUGHT an Advanced Ukulele class with that same Adult Ed and formed a band, the Ukuwailers, performing in the local area.

More recently, Tom has been performing locally with various musical friends as “Tom and Friends”, covering Classic Rock from the 50s, 60s and 70s.

Thomases Promises

Tom Towle Music