Tomislav Goluban with Crooked Eye Tommy – Nashville Road
Overton Music
9 tracks/34 minutes
Tomislav Goluban is a Croatian harp player. Crooked Eye Tommy is a west coast guitar player. So why not get together to create an album called Nashville Road? Goluban (which translates to Little Pigeon and is his nickname) was weaned on Slim Harpo and Sonny Terry, so it was only natural harmonica blues were n his future. And Ventura, California gave rise to Tommy and the sound of blues rock by he and his band. When Goluban heard them, he wanted to get together with them and they did. First in Croatia and then in the States, their music became intertwined and an album was just destined.
Recorded at Jasco’s Music Lab in Nashville, the album is all original music. Goluban wrote all but the final track which was penned by Crooked Eye Tommy Marsh. Anamarija Nekíc wrote the lyrics for “Life Is Good.” The Little Pigeon handles vocals on tracks 3 and 7 and harp throughout the album. Marsh is on vocals for five tracks and handles guitars, and on the first 8 cuts Eric Robert is on keys, Doug Selbert is on bass, and Alphonso Wesby is on drums. Jesse Duende is on guitar of the first four tracks, Bill Gillman is on upright bass for the final track and Grady Clark is on slide for that last cut, too.
“Hard Run” starts things off. Goluban gets some dirty harp going and Marsh lays out some good licks and the piano adds some cool boogie in there, too. Theres a rocking groove laid down to move things along as the group gets the ball rolling fast with a great opening instrumental. Next is “Rock Dog” with some slightly distorted harp and vocals. This one’s a mover and shaker with a driving beat and sold work by the back line. “Up Is Down” has some boogie woogie piano and gritty vocals. Lots of solo harp here in another driving song.
“Bad Choice Makes Good Sense” follows with a lesser, more thoughtful pace. Marsh sings emotively and Goluban adds a tasteful solo as does Marsh right after it. Then it’s “Hip Hop Shake” where the bass and drums get it rolling and Tommy’s guitar then lays out a boogie over them until the Little Pigeon’s harp comes in as the final layer. Some piano s then added before the harp takes charge and leads the instrumental onslaught. Harp and piano solo for us to savor; pretty cool stuff. “Hard Candy” features guitar and harp as Marsh sings about a woman who is hard candy. Piano tinkles, a little slide on the guitar neck for fun for a jumping slick track.
“Keep On Moving On” has more greasy harp, some nice organ helping out and Goluban’s gritty vocals. Up next is “Life Is Good” a slower paced number with Marsh singing and and Goluban responding on harp. Robert does a nice solo and then Marsh adds a good one of his own. Goluban takes us home on harp with a prolonged outro. “There Is A Train” completes the album with a 6 plus minute acoustic cut with lap steel added by Marsh for fun. Slow and cool, with the acoustic sounds, harp and steel guitar giving us a dirty and imaginative sound.
This is a well done album with interesting and creative original tunes. I enjoyed it from top to bottom. It is certainly worth listening to!
