By Keith Walsh
Rock and roll exists solely on the basis of the restless reinvention of its forms and personalities; without Sister Rosetta Tharpe there would have been no Chuck Berry. Without Little Richard, no Elton John or David Bowie. Without John and Bowie, no Radiohead, no Lady Gaga. Driven by an endless sense of dissatisfaction at their previous works, the actors in this grand musical drama are the vehicles of new innovations in sound — using new melodic forms and novel compositional structures in the hopes of satiating the gnawing passion to create.
Enter Tom Cridland. After having succeeded in the clothing business with the launch of his fashion brand in 2014, and inspired by Elton John’s drummer Nigel Olsson, whom he sold clothing to, the London-born Cridland took up study of the drums and brought aboard his love and business partner Debs Marx, and recruited keyboardist Nick Whitehead, whom he met backstage at an Elton concert. In 2018, this fashion entrepreneur turned singer/songwriter and drummer released a terrific self-titled, classic rock influenced debut disc with his band The Tomicks.
The Tomicks have since recorded album number two (during the summer of 2018 at Abbey Road Studios) and album number three (at Pink Satellite Studios in Joshua Tree California, with completion of tracking just last week). Mixing is ongoing. As Tom puts it, “Nick is very particular.” To top this all off, The Tomicks played gig number one hundred last December.
These second and third albums, tentatively titled “Jailbound Fool” and “The Life and Times Of A Corporate Psychopath,” respectively, will be released this year, Tom tells me. Debs says that there may not be another Tomicks album for quite some time, after these latest two. These achievements, while considerable, are not sufficient for one so restless. Perhaps Cridland’s next move couldn’t be called unexpected: the launch of a solo project, under the basic name “Tom Cridland.”
I witnessed the project’s debut gig, an unadvertised show on the rooftop of The Andaz Hotel in downtown San Diego, on February 26. The two hour set gave Cridland the chance to come out from behind the drum set as a front man, stretching his performing limits a bit, accompanied by a skilled ensemble of musicians recruited from Los Angeles . The set featured a playlist of songs from the ’70s and ’80s. Among the tunes were Toto’s “Africa,” Elton John’s “Philadelphia Freedom,” and fun gender-bending versions of Carole King’s “Natural Woman” and Madonna’s “Like A Virgin.” Cridland’s version of The Beatles’ “Here Comes The Sun” was a standout, and a tune that invokes the end of the ’60s and the beginning of the ’70s, (the latter decade exerting a powerful influence on The Tomicks).
Cridland’s voice was in good form, and despite suffering from a sore throat, he deftly handled the lows of Michael McDonald’s “Sweet Freedom” and the falsetto highs of Prince’s “Kiss.” A learning tour of performing classics could very well be an effective way for Cridland to master the techniques of the artists he has adored since the intense listening binges of his college years. When I pointed out that Tuesday night’s set was heavy on ’80s tunes, he confirmed that that’s the direction his solo project, comprised of original tunes, would be going in.
Stay tuned for more info about the upcoming releases from The Tomicks and your other favorite artists.
