Album Notes

After 10+ years of lending his instrumental skills to recordings and live shows for a variety of other artists, Tom Yarbrough is excited to announce the release of his own debut album, “Far Cry From Gone.” The new recording is available now as an iTunes download and on compact disc. Several years in the making, “Far Cry From Gone’ features 13 masterfully original songs, all written by Yarbrough and recorded in Nashville and Texas with a first rate cast of musical friends, including long-time studio collaborator Ryan Taylor (engineer/guitar), Jason Collum (drums), Aaron Sands (bass), Stephen Gause (recording/mix engineer), and Yarbrough himself on a variety of instruments. Guest musicians include Phil Madeira on B3 organ, Kenny Meeks on electric guitar, and Kenny Hutson on pedal steel guitar. On “Far Cry From Gone” Yarbrough has created an ageless collection of songs in the American tradition. Guitar and vocal arrangements on the record are backed by drums, foot stomping and hand percussion. Grinding electric guitar feedback and mandolins float through and a tuba thumps out a bass part under a National resonator slide guitar. A pedal steel whines out a lonesome and gritty line under a Hammond organ. Running through the center of it all is Yarbrough’s worn but willing voice and his trademark lyrical turns that draw the listener in for a personal encounter. Stylistically, the album ranges from rich, atmospheric folk as can be found on the title track to the heartbreaking, country inspired “Pretending”, a duet with singer/songwriter Elizabeth Foster. Some tracks, such as “Untitled” and “Rock of Ages, offer minimum instrumentation other than Yarbrough himself on guitar while the country-rock flavored “Fightin’ Missin’ Lovin’ You” and the album opener “Santa Fe” are full band affairs. All the songs find Yarbrough where he has always been most comfortable, immersed in the timeless tradition of the song.

Born in Plymouth, Massachusetts but raised mostly in Northeastern Oklahoma, Tom was influenced early by the "3 Bs": Bob Wills (courtesy of his fiddle-playing grandpa), The Beatles (via his guitar-playing father), and the Baptist Hymnal (by way of his piano-playing mother.) As a result, he began playing fiddle at age 6, piano at age 9, and guitar as a teenager. Yarbrough began to take songwriting seriously while in college, and performed whenever he could in local coffee houses, churches, and living rooms. He combined his ever-growing original guitar/vocal sets with solo dulcimer, fiddle and mandolin numbers. During this time he opened for David Wilcox, Lucy Kaplansky, and Don Maclean. In 1998 he made the move to Nashville where he finished school and spent a few years writing, playing, starting a family, and examining his own art and motives. In 2001 Tom began writing and recording the songs that would eventually make up “Far Cry From Gone.” A follow up 7-song EP entitled “My Good Thing” has already been completed and should be available later in 2008.