the barnhartvale coffee house

www.tomcoles.ca

Tom has woven together an artful blend of styles within the acoustic genre, incorporating influences from folk and bluegrass to country and contemporary acoustic into his original songs, each as varied as the musical tastes that this musician has acquired in his over thirty years of playing. Tom's music has been described as "Gordon Lightfoot meets Doc Watson", citing two of the major musical influences in his life.  Yet his style is uniquely and distinctly Tom Coles.  Growing up in Toronto during the folk music heyday of the 60's and 70's gave Tom the opportunity (for which he is eternally grateful) to experience first hand some of folk music's true legends.  Experiences that would have such a great impact on his musical direction.  Tom recalls as a teenager and novice singer/guitarist seeing the likes of Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger, Ian and Sylvia, Joni Mitchell and, of course, Gordon Lightfoot and Doc Watson to name a few.  Experiences that contributed to his decision to pursue music as a love and living. He started playing professionally as a folk singer at coffee houses in and around Toronto in the early to mid 70's but the popularity that folk music had enjoyed was waning as discos had began replacing the folk venues.  Although he had by now studied commercial art and graphic design, he decided to continue with music making the move to country and country rock and from coffee houses to clubs and bars.  A road that he was to travel on and off of for the next almost 15 years.  He moved to B.C. around 1979 and except for a few interludes (the US, India and Nepal) he has called it home ever since.  He toured with a multitude of bands and duos over those many years on road tours that literally went to Inuvik (near Canada's Arctic Ocean) to Southern Arizona.  He and his wife, Sandy, moved to an acreage they own in the mountains high above the picturesque Thompson River near Clearwater, B.C. where they enjoy the simple country life that, along with their love of nature, is reflected in many of Tom's songs