MIXED CARGO ! means exactly that! Herein are songs from land and sea; from the industrial revolution and the agricultural tradition; from the war-torn Western Front to the streets of Tom's native Belfast; from submarine ablutions to the Everly Brothers. Mixed cargo indeed!There is a brief biography, suitable for concert programs, etc., on Tom's website ! BUT ! if you're interested in the REAL (only slightly) abridged history ! read on.
Widely acknowledged as North America's finest exponent of contemporary nautical songs (it sez 'ere), Tom Lewis brings to the stage wry humour, button accordion, ukulele, a great voice and his unique experience of more than 40 years bridging the sea-going and folk-singing communities.
Born THOMAS JOHN LEWIS on April 16th. 1943, in Belfast, Northern Ireland; then moving with his family to Gloucester, England for his Grammar School years; Tom joined the Royal Navy as an Engineering Apprentice in 1959, just a few days after his sixteenth birthday.
Posted to a naval training establishment in Scotland in 1960, he soon started frequenting THE HOWFF Folk Club (in nearby Dunfermline) being exposed to such luminaries as Willie Scott, Alex Glasgow, Ewan McColl, Archie Fisher, John Watt, Louis Killen, et al. Strangely; considering later developments in Tom's interest in contemporary nautical song; one of the few folk singers to whom he was not exposed during those three extremely formative years, was Cyril Tawney. Around this time, Cyril and his songs were becoming celebrated throughout the world of folk music and soon came to have an enormous influence on Tom's own development as a writer and entertainer.
During a 24 year naval career (mainly in diesel submarines) Tom managed to juggle the requirements of the service with a growing commitment to participating in folk clubs, concerts and festivals; sometimes solo, often with his first wife, Kate and, occasionally, as a member of various groups. (You can hear LONG FELT WANT, on a couple of tracks on the MIXED CARGO CD.
)Pressures common to service life eventually caused Tom and Kate to go their separate ways, though now they are firm friends, linked by their children: Mike and Jane; and four grandsons.
Meeting and marrying Lyn coincided closely with Tom's first foray into songwriting, with the arrival of his 'LAST SHANTY'; a song which Tom has always claimed emerged fully-fledged, rather than requiring to be written. The recording of this song, by Johnny Collins and ...
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