Artist: Tom Ciurczak
Album: I Ain't Ever Growing Up Volume II
Release: 2024
Website: https://tomciurczak.com/
The latest from Tom Ciurczak is the second installment in the "I Ain't Ever Growing Up" series and it is an absolute gem. There is something about the simplicity of four chord rock and roll bands that never gets old when it is done well like this. Tom has employed some "A List" studio musicians on this one, including drum legend Kenny Aronoff and bassist extraordinaire Travis Carlton, son of legendary guitarist Larry Carlton. The production is perfectly crafted, capturing what a band actually sounds like live. The recording is warm with everything sitting in the right spot in the mix, but never over produced.
Having listened through the album multiple times it is tough to narrow it down to standout tracks, as the whole record is quite consistent in composition and performance. To make simple rock songs feel like they do on this album is anything but simple. It is quite difficult to get the right sounds and vibe without over production. This album feels like they just set up and played with some vintage mics in front of the tube amps and real drums. Playing well rehearsed songs, but at some point just playing and not thinking too much about it. The end result feels like a classic Tom Petty effort or even a 70's Kinks production.
Track One Small Town Girls has a classic Jackson Browne vibe. A soft rock track with the age old story of love. Nice harmonies that subtly support the pre-choruses again harkens back to the late 70's approach, reminding me of The Eagles and the other acts that were present in the Laurel Canyon sound. The background vocals in the bands of that era were entrenched in the band like one of the instruments, versus another vocalist on top of the production. The harmonies were almost like horn parts in that sense, with the lead vocal still being the focus, but strongly supported by the underlying vocals. An art that seems to be lost in most rock these days, but not in this band.
The next cut Mexican Jail was a standout for me. Lyrically it tells a story that is right out of the Billy Joel school of lyrics. A story that pulls you right in at the beginning that makes the listener want to know how he and his friends ended up in a Mexican jail. Musically it has a Smithereens meets Jimmy Buffet vibe that is captured perfectly. What is consistent with this music is the simple beauty of the compositions and gear. The guitar sounds like a Tele into a Fender amp with a bit of reverb, turned about half way up to get that sweet spot where the speakers start to break up naturally without the assistance of a pedal. Seems so easy on the surface, but the reality is it takes great ears to settle into that sweet timeless tone!
War Of The Worlds is the third track that caught my ear after multiple listens. It's not "the hit"... but it is the "deep cut" on the album that die hard fans would gravitate to in a time when young people listened to entire records dozens of times. It is the cut that you find yourself listening to in the car on repeat late at night, while the hits are being played on AAA radio for the casual fans of music. What jumps out musically is the bass, cutting its own line throughout the song quite prominently in the mix. Without this line the song has a completely different end result. This approach to bass is a throwback in time in terms of pop music. When one hears rock music recorded post MTV the bass is almost always barely audible. This flashback to the bass actually being its own instrument is a welcome surprise!
Fans of the late 70's rock scene will love this album. It is very easy on the ears, but never dull. There is a spot in life where you settle in and hopefully the angst of youth has washed away and evolved into something else. That is the spot that this record is the soundtrack to. It is introspective, but still has enough edge that will appeal to that adult that was a teenage music fan 45 years ago. A time when real musicians played real instruments and wrote songs that had a bit more to offer the listener than what we hear on AAA radio these days. This a wonderful record that I hope finds its audience!
Check out the interview with Tom as well....
Tell us the brief history of your band or musical career.
Like a million other kids I was influenced by what I like to call “the big bang” on Feb 9, 1964 when the Beatles appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show. I picked up a guitar the next day and been playing ever since. But, I took a bit of a turn, as others set out to be the next Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, or Jimmy Page, my goal was to become a great songwriter like Lennon and McCartney. Songwriting has been my main musical focus since my early teens.
I moved out from NY to California in the Mid-1980’s to pursue a career in Lighting, and stopped performing but never stopped writing. Then as luck would have it I went to a “Steve Earle” Master Songwriting Class in 2014, and I like to say, that it was there that I found my lost tribe. A Hundred different songwriters, from all around the world, with the same interests and passions in the craft of songwriting as me. I made a lot of friends there, and as we left everyone handed me either their CD or Album. It made me realize I needed to step it up another level. So I embarked on a mission to record an album and put together a band to perform the songs, something I had not done since Hgh School. I had no interest in recording acoustic folkie songs, I wanted to put together a full on rock album and I did it! In 2020 I released “Call Me Ishmael” and then once I got it in my blood, I couldn’t stop. So, I went back into the studio and in 2023 I released “I I Ain’t Growing Up Volume I” as well as a Christmas EP “California Christmas Tales”, then followed it up in June 2024 with “I Ain’t Ever Growing Up Volume II”. Additionally, my band “The Tom Ciurczak Band” has been playing all over Southern California well known venues such as: “The Coach House”; “The Viper Room”; “The Whiskey A Go Go’ and “The Mint”. So it has been quite an interesting musical trajectory I’ve been on the last few years.
Who are your musical and non-musical influences?
I love all singer songwriters from the Beatles, Springsteen, Billy Joel, Warren Zevon, Tom Petty, and Steve Earle. As far as non-musical, my influences would be many of the greats in Literature. “Call Me Ishmael” the title of my first album is the opening line from Moby Dick and the title song, Ishmael, follows a parallel story line. However, in the case of my song Ishmael it’s about exotic animal smuggling told from the perspective of a Parrot name Ishmael. Not sure how many listeners figured it out, but I did leave lots of bread crumb clues along the way.
What album has had the greatest impact on your life as a musician?
I’m going to give you two: The first is the “Lamb Lies Down on Broadway” by Genesis. I was a huge fan of Prog Music and absolutely loved the Music along with Peter Gabriel’s lyrics and storytelling. I think even though I write a lot of Americana songs, you can always find elements of Prog in my songwriting and it comes from my love of this Genre. The second album is “Born to Run” by Bruce Springsteen, which I think is an absolute rock n roll masterpiece. He played at my college in Upstate NY as his first stop after his famous Hammersmith Odeon Show in London. My roomates had to drag me “kicking and screaming” to see him, as I wasn’t the least bit interested. But I went, and he blew the roof off of the small Gymnasium at my college at SUNY Oswego, and I became a huge fan. The song “Ontario Nights’ off of “I Ain’t Ever Growing Up Volume I” is a song I went home and wrote the day after the concert and you can hear all the Bruce influences throughout. To this day I think there is a little bit of Springsteen in most of my songs.
Is there a particular song that has resonated with you for a long time?
If you are asking about other artist’s songs I would say Springsteen’s “Born To Run”; Genesis’s “Lamb Lie’s Down on Broadway”; and Gentle Giant’s “Knots”
What’s your favorite accomplishment as a musician thus far?
My favorite accomplishment as a musician is being able to record and bring to life so many of the songs that I have written over the years, and then the cherry on top of it all. is to perform them in front of a live crowd and see the crowd’s reaction to them. There is no bigger thrill!
Tell me about your favorite performance in your career.
The first show with the “Tom Ciurczak Band” at the “Coach House” in San Juan Capistrano CA, in 2023, where we got to perform the songs from “I Ain’t Ever Growing Up” for the very first time. It is a 500 seat club, the place was packed and they loved every minute of every song. It was both humbling, exciting and quite a thrill ride all at the same time.
What's new in the recording of your music?
There is a lot of new music in the pipeline. I have 2 new albums of original songs, that I think is by far and away my best yet. The first one “Yorick” (for all you Hamlet fans) will come out sometime in 2025. The second has yet to be determined. But, the good news is that we’ve already started to perform some of the songs from both new albums in our live sets to gauge the audience response to them. But, there is more! In May this year I headed down to “Muscle Shoals” studio’s in Alabama to meet up with 5 other songwriters that I originally met at the first Steve Earle “Camp Copperhead” in 2014. This was both a 10year anniversary project as well as a memorial to a fallen comrade, Adam Yount, who had passed away recently. We recorded a full album, where we all contributed an original song; co-wrote 2 others; and covered one of Adam Yount’s originals, plus a surprise Steve Earle tribute. It’s called the “Copperhead 6 Project” and the album name is “Muscle Shoals Record Shop.” Our goal is to have it out in time for Christmas this year.
How has your music changed over the years?
When I first started everything I wrote had a stronger acoustical folk rock style to it, because I was mostly performing them solo on an acoustic guitar. But now, I am very conscious about writing songs for a full band, especially the drummer’s part. I’ve become much more aware about the full band sound and how a song goes over in front of a live audience. So, with newer material, I try to incorporate more interesting drum stops and pushes into songs so as to catch more of the audiences ear. Also, as far as song form goes, I am definitely the antithesis of your: “verse chorus verse chorus bridge” type of song writer. And even though I’m more of an Americana Heartland Rocker, I think this is where incorporating many of the elements I learned from PROG music really help with the many different song structures I utilize and this is something that also keeps evolving.
What inspires you to write the music you write?
I write music every day. I’ve been doing it since I’ve been a teenager. I’ve always been interested in writing the next great song and the next great rock anthem. It’s just something in my blood. However, I think this is true with many artists and I’ve always heard that if you are going to be good at any craft then you need to constantly work at improving on it every day.
What made you want to play the instrument you play?
The Beatles! Their first appearance on the “Ed Sullivan Show” did it for me. I picked up the guitar the next day and never put it down!
How does your latest album differ from any of your others in the past?
“I Ain’t Ever Growing Up Volume II’ is a continuation of Volume I. They were both recorded together and originally planned to be released as one Album. But we thought it was a bit to much for the listeners to absorb at once, so we decided to split it into two separate albums. In many ways Volume I & II are very similar, although I would say Volume II has more of a soft rock set of songs than Volume I does. However, when comparing these albums to “Call Me Ishmael” I think there is a huge difference. I have used the same engineer and producer team of “Brett Grossman and Stephen Haaker” on all of my recording projects. “Call Me Ishmael” was our first together and looking back, I think it was there was quite a learning curve that we went on together (especially when you compare the way we recorded our first album to the “I Ain’t Ever Growing Up Volumes I&II” sessions). We’ve definitely learned a lot. And the next recordings we just finished are another step up from these.
How are you continuing to grow musically?
When my band isn’t booked, I play out weekly at many different Jam Nights throughout Orange County, working on developing my ability to play cover song on request. It really challenges your ability to play with other musicians you are unfamiliar with and haven’t practiced with along both with your guitar and lyric memory. I equate it to being similar to playing pick up basketball.
Describe your creative process when you write new music.
I think everyone writes differently and has different ways to approach it. I work at writing something every day and have been doing this my entire life. So, I’ve developed my own approach to it over the years. I usually start with a musical idea on either guitar or piano. Maybe I’ll have a theme or subject idea in the beginning, but typically I’ll wait until I have the song fleshed both melody and structurally wise before I start adding lyrics. I get the most enjoyment out of writing story songs that are in essence a mini-3 act play and then I like to add a third act twist, whenever I can, to surprise the listener: “Mine Torne Road; “Ishmael”; “the Vault” “Bonnie and Clyde”; “Not My Problem” are all examples of this. I can get very detailed when it comes to lyrics and the songs subject matter, so I spend a lot of extra time researching and word smithing the lyrics. Also, It’s not uncommon for the original melody and song structure to change during this phase. Writing a good song can take weeks to months to review and revise, although Steve Earle always said they are never finished until you play them live.
What do you like most about your new album?
The thing I like most about all my songs is the diverse musical styles and various Instruments we incorporated. The new album opens up with the Springsteen sounding “Soft Rock” song “Small Town Girls”; then heads into the Roger Clyne influenced Alt Country song “Mexican Jail”. Further on we move to “Day Drinker” which is a rock song full of many Rock and PROG elements and then we finish the album up with the David Bowie-esque “War of the Worlds” (which would have fit nicely in his “Ziggy Stardust” era). With regard to some of the Instruments and players that standout, first I need to mention the phenomenal percussion playing of Richie Gajate Garcia, who’s played with “The Four Seasons”, “Phil Collins”, and “Tony Orlando”. His percussion playing adds to and lifts both “Lie To Me” and “I Ain’t Ever Growing Up” to a another level rhythmically wise. Alexander Burke played Vibraphone on “War of the Worlds”, something you don’t often hear on rock records, The Vibraphone combined with the melodic bass lines of Travis Calton (Larry’s son) is what gives “War of the Worlds” the eerie David Bowie like sound I mentioned. Ken Aronoff who played with John Mellencamp and John Fogerty takes over Drumming for the Old 97’s style, Alt Country shuffle of “Not My Problem”. This along with outstanding guitar playing by Federico Navaro, makes this song one of my favorites on the Album. Then for something completely different we have a Hall and Oates inspired song, “Heaven”, which is something that you might have found on their Todd Rundgren produced “War Babies” Album. On this song I had the idea of an acapella outro that that myself Harrison Crenshaw, and Lily Elise all sing, It came out beautifully, and it’s another favorite of mine on this album.
What artists do you enjoy listening to nowadays?
I listen to everything from A to Z in most of the various sub genres of Rock and Country. I’m a huge fan of Jason Isbell, Roger Clyne, Neal Morse, Bruce Springsteen, Peter Gabriel. I’m committed to seeing live shows for all of (what I like to refer to as “the Dinosaurs”) before they die off. Just saw the Rolling Stones “Hackney Diamonds” Show and it was stunning!
What is the best way to stay updated on current news; gigs, releases, etc.
We’re on “Bands in Town”; “Instagram”; “Facebook”
What's next for your band?
Next Show is the “Whiskey A GoGo” on August 15th
What are your interests outside of music?
I’m an avid sports fan of both Pro and College Football and Basketball
Tell us a fun fact about yourself.
I’ve been in the Lighting Industry for 30 years. I’ve traveled the US, Europe and SE Asia in my various job functions in this field and built 3 very successful business’s. I even owned a Lighting Business in Ikebukuro Japan for a number of years, hence the nickname tokyotommy.
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