EVERY ONCE IN AWHILE, magic is made on a planetary scale...
EVERY ONCE IN AWHILE, the sky opens, manna falls from the heavens, lions lie down with lambs, rain comes to the fields, the sun shines warmly on all, parents gather their children, and activity slows to a stop, as people listen to the faint but unmistakably beautiful sounds of harmony on the wind, coming ever closer...
EVERY ONCE IN AWHILE, a collection of music comes along that has an effect on people far beyond what was imagined...
OKAY, maybe this isn't one of those times. But still, here's a double CD that helps you celebrate the best in yourself and laugh at the rest of yourself...
**** NOTE: CD reviews at bottom of page. ****
"Oh my, thanks for the music. You probably hear from a lot of folks what I'm about to say. "Grand Design" is absolutely haunting! I have certainly played it 50 times since we recorded the show...probably more. It is such a perfect metaphor for life. It's so very well done, with such great instrumentation...."
-- Bob Keeton, Living Successfully Radio, Santa Fe, NM
BIO
by Pam Grout
When you consider that most of the songs from Nashville are about broken hearts, shattered dreams, and mamas getting run over by pickups, it's no surprise that songwriter Greg Tamblyn finally found a new niche.
Tamblyn is much too successful to sing the country-western blues. He's just released his 6th CD, he's playing concerts all over the country, and he's even a sought after entertainer at health and wellness seminars.
He also leads tours to exotic destinations like China and Peru. (For details, email him at left.)
Tamblyn left his hometown Kansas City in 1986, stifled by a lack of opportunities. Oh sure, he was playing local bars, and he'd been rated "Best Male Vocalist in Kansas City" by a local newspaper. He'd even sold a couple of songs to a country singer from the Philippines. But the lure of Nashville was too great. Eventually, he landed a writing job for a Nashville song publisher.
Along with having his songs recorded by country artists, Tamblyn successfully released his own single, "It's Another Joyful Elvis Presley Christmas." It caught the attention of radio stations and reviewers around the country, and was named "Christmas Single of the Year" in Cashbox magazine.
Then the Cayman Islands Hyatt offered him a gig. Remember that pool bar that Gene Hackman sat near in The Firm? The singer in the background could have been Tamblyn. Except by that time, he'd left, burned out by tourists wanting to hear "Margaritaville" for the 896th time. He wanted to sing his own songs.
Soon after that he was asked to play a wellness conference at Duke University Medical Center. With songs like "The Shootout at the I'm OK, You're Ok Corral," and "My Life is a Beer Commercial," he was a smash hit, and a new career was born.
The brochure for the conference listed Tamblyn as a member of the seminar's faculty. Where initials such as M.D. and Ph.D. followed the other presenter's names, the listing for Tamblyn was followed by N.C.W., which stands for "No Credentials Whatsoever."
With humorous songs about inner guides named Clyde and environmental slowpokes who think the greenhouse effect means crummy tomatoes, Tamblyn has found a huge audience. In addition to his public concerts, he's played for groups as diverse as the Department of Defense and the American Holistic Medical Association.
Stories from his life and songwriting have been featured in several recent books, including "Stressed Is Desserts Spelled Backwards," by Brian Luke Seaward; "Shelter For The Spirit," by Victoria Moran; and "Art and Soul," by Pam Grout.
Read more...