"New Deal" is now available!
Hailey, ID:
Notes Music - Alturas Plaza 208-788-2496
www.notesmusicnme.com
Ketchum, ID:
Iconoclast Books - 671Sun Valley Rd, 208-726-1564
www.iconoclastbooks.com
Sun Valley, ID:
Iconoclast Sun Valley - Sun Valley Mall, 208-622-8174
www.iconoclastbooks.com
Chester, CA:
B&B Booksellers - 140 Main St, Chester 530-258-2150
www.bbbsellers.com
Quincy, CA:
Plumas Arts - 372 Main St 530-283-3402
www.plumasarts.org
Washington, NC: coming soon
Online - coming soon!
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About Dr. Tom's Alchemy
Folkadelia with a dash of Bluegrass, Southern Jamband Rock, & Conscience
“Dr. Tom’s Alchemy” is a folkadelic musical experience nestled in the Wood River Valley of southern Idaho. With a malleability and tone concocted from the melting pot of improvisational rock, Dr. Tom spins gold from varied musical styles and influences, including southern rock, bluegrass, funk, swing, and flamenco. With a tip of the hat to the lingering leads of the late Michael Houser (Widespread Panic), a nod to the creative looping of Keller Williams, and aspirations to the hard-hitting social justice songwriting of Michael Franti, Dan Bern, and Bob Dylan, this Wood River Valley physician and acupuncturist dives headfirst into the groove.
Linking up melodies and rhythms on his 1937 Gibson L7 archtop guitar and baritone ukelele, Dr. Tom (Archie) moves from playful, rollicking tunes about his dogs and family to provocative social conscience lyrics and then slides into spiraling, polyrhythmic jams. Blending acoustic instruments with electric effects and stirring them together in a percussive stew, he brews up some tasty “percoustic” folkadelia. Social influences include the Bioneers, Thom Hartman, Howard Zinn, and Amy Goodman.
Dr. Tom moved to Idaho in 2007 from the rural northern Sierra of California, where he performed with an ephemeral and gilded cadre of musicians (playing clarinet, dobro, harmonica, mandolin, percussion, and upright bass) on local and regional stages including the High Sierra Music Festival, the Blackhawk Solar Cookoff, and Quincy’s Mountain Harvest Festival. Since his relocation, Dr. Tom’s Alchemy is a strong solo show.
Archie has penned over 70 songs on several CDs. His 2004 project entitled “Lifted” featured live-in-studio recordings of instrumentals, playful upbeat tunes, and free-form jams. It also included his first venture into the genre of social conscience writing in the song “Seedsaver,” a fiercely somber ballad about Percy Schmeiser, a fifth-generation Canadian canola farmer. In 1998, Schmeiser was sued by giant agribusiness corporation Monsanto, after some of its Round-up Ready seeds sprouted in a ditch on his farm. In the tradition of saving and reusing the most productive and resilient seeds, Schmeiser was threatened with loss of his crop and all his seeds. The judge in the case ruled in favor of Monsanto, and the case made its way to the Canadian Supreme Court in January 2004, with huge implications for small family farms.
The website www.drtomsalchemy.com features a blend of articles on functional/nutritional medicine, acupuncture, and music with January 2009 release of Dr. Tom’s latest recording “New Deal” – a folkadelic rock album with timely sociopolitical songwriting. Several songs on the project include recordings with some of his High Sierra friends on dobro, clarinet, and harmonica, while others include Wood River Valley’s own Chip Booth (Bruce Innes Band, Kim Stocking Band, Public Radio). Weaving in socially conscious and often provocative lyrics with a voice, at times melodic and sometimes nearly growling, Dr. Tom’s dynamic songwriting brings up the grass by its roots.