Tommy Womack "On & Off the Wagon"

Tommy Womack is a wordsmith. Pure and simple. Well, actually there is nothing simple about Tommy...pure and complex! How is that? The words manifest in all different kinds of ways. There are songs, some delivered solo, and some with bands current and past; in reverse order with DADDY, The Bis-quits, and Government Cheese. There are books, The Cheese Chronicles, which is in my estimation one of the finest rock and roll books ever written; The Lavender Boys and Elsie, the collected civil war era letters of Albert and Elsie Deveraux which came out in 2008; and now we await an illustrated children's book to be published this year called Jack The Bunny. He has even contributed columns to Music Fog's website from time to time. His blog over on his website is a literate and illuminating glimpse into his life. From it, posted back in May:

"On Tuesday I got my second day of recording done for my next solo venture. John Deaderick and I – the same team who gave you There, I Said It! - are at it again. Expect a 2011 release for this one. (It makes no sense to rush these things anymore, does it.) Songs recorded so far: “On & Off The Wagon,” “Play That Cheap Trick, Cheap Trick Play,” “It Doesn’t Have to Be That God,” “Bye & Bye,” “Wishes Do Come True,” “Pothead Blues,” “I’m Too Old to Feel That Way Right Now,” “Darling Let Your Free Bird Fly,” “Guilty Snake Blues,” and “I Love You to Pieces."

Whoo-hoo! A new Tommy Womack CD is an well anticipated and wholly awesome thing to contemplate!

Tommy came up on the Music Fog bus this past February, at Folk Alliance, and brought Lisa Gray with him to lay down one of the above mentioned new tunes. Is this a song about sobriety, about being on the road, about marital fidelity, about the human condition? Answer, likely all of the above. A lot to stuff in, delivered in just two minutes and thirty-eight seconds! "On and Off the Wagon."

- Jessie Scott

Tommy