From the Promoter

Tom Russell is an American singer-songwriter who was born in Los Angeles. He has lived in many places, including Vancouver and New York City, and is currently based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. His music incorporates elements of folk, traditional country & western, border and cowboy music of the American West. Russell's songs have been recorded by artists such as Johnny Cash, Ian Tyson, Nanci Griffith, Dave Alvin and others. In addition to his music, he is also an artist and published author.

Tom lived and performed right here in Vancouver in the 1970s. “I started my career on East Hastings Street, playing eight hours a night at The Gulf Club. This was the original skid row, a term which originated in the Pacific Northwest, because the sidewalks were wood and slippery, especially when you were drunk on cheap wine. The cops told me there was a felony committed in the club every ten minutes. This is where I learned the song trade and how to front a band in danger zones.”

In the 1980s Russell made four albums credited to the Tom Russell Band. These featured guitarist Andrew Hardin and accordionist Fats Kaplin.

In the 1990s Russell made a number of solo albums. His most significant album of the 1990s was the innovative 1999 folk opera, The Man From God Knows Where, a song cycle tracing the journeys of Russell's ancestors from Europe to America, and the struggles they encountered.