TOM BAXTER

Clare has been playing with Tom Baxter for a couple of years, both live and on his album Feather & Stone (recorded at Real World studios, out on Sony/Colombia). Live London gigs have included the Bush Hall, the Jazz Café, the Scala, the Bedford and Cargo in Shoreditch. Clare also appears in Tom's latest video.

Some reviews for the album:

"Superb debut from string-laden troubadour...
We first heard Tom Baxter a couple of years ago on a Kashmir Klub sampler, which revealed him as an acoustic strummer with a voice heavily influenced by Jeff Buckley. His debut album is considerably more ambitious, with piano replacing guitar as the spine and string arrangements that rival Richard Ashcroft for emotional melodrama. The tunes are gorgeous and the songs deal with the standard debut album theme of rite-of-passage-into-adulthood, but intelligently so." Uncut

In the lead track, My Declaration, his label has a song that almost guarantees success. Its compelling defiance in the face of bitter misfortune ("Going to live my life beyond these fears and forms of cowardice... I'm taking it on"), sweeping strings and plangent melody should surely resonate with many lives. It's not the only good track here, either - there are nine companion pieces for his clear, clean, breathy voice, and all the songs are well served by the watchful arrangements of Jon Kelly, the producer of Beautiful South." The Times

"...for a debut release the maturity of his voice and the arrangements are gobsmacking. My Declaration is a stirring pledge to self-betterment, starting as a simple piano track before developing into a full blown epic that manages to harness the power of an orchestra without sounding cheesy, Joanna is a love song in the purest sense, while the heartbroken Half a Man demands to be served under late night and candles" Hot Press Review (Ireland)

more information on Tom at his website www.tombaxter.co.uk

photos of Real World sessions © Ben Williams 2004