Thom Swift At Point Rock

Our heads are still in the clouds, courtesy of last night’s house concert with Thom Swift. Wow, what an awesome evening!

Once again we had the good fortune of catching Thom at Point Rock Concerts, our favourite house concert venue. The last time we saw him both he and Ian Janes shared the stage here at Mary’s for a great evening of mirth and music. Tonight, it was Thom alone, straight up, uncut and awesome! It was so nice to once again hear some of our favourites live like Dawson’s Arrival, Seafoam, 200 Miles and, of course, Circle Of Boots.

In addition, Thom performed a wider range of material tonight, from Ragtime to Folk to Blues, from his past albums to some, hopefully, soon to be inclusions on an upcoming new release. His salute to traditional music of the 1920’s and 30’s, like his rendition of “Let The Mermaids Flirt With Me” by Mississippi John Hurt, not only wowed us but brought this musically important genre to our attention, thereby, and again hopefully, keeping it alive.

In between each song Thom would share with us how a particular song came about or what it meant to him. These stories, told in Thom’s unique way of story telling, gave each of the songs more individuality, meaning and depth. By blending his personal history, the history of traditional music and musicians, even the history of his guitars and intertwining these with his poetic lyrics, adding his nimble finger picking and vast song library and then finally delivering it all together in his signature laid-back style he crafted one dynamic evening of entertainment. No, wait! It was more than just being entertained. It was more like being immersed into another time or another place.

Throughout the evening, especially during the second set as dusk gave way to night and the peepers outside were singing backup, one could imagine us all on a large veranda, down South perhaps, rocking away, both figuratively and literally, listening to the rhythms of the music and heart. The overwhelming feeling we got sitting there listening to Thom’s blend of folk and blues brought us to the comfort of this other time, a more peaceful time, a time that Thom referred to when he said that all of us here tonight can likely remember a time as kids when we went out in the morning and didn’t come home until the street lights came on. Remember that? Indeed. Good times then, good times tonight.

Often pausing for deep reflection during the telling of his more personal stories, Thom would unknowingly give us pause as well, allowing us to let go and be drawn in, to reflect on our own similar situations, reminding of us of our vulnerabilities, our life, our loves, adding impact to his songs, making them ours.

Near the end of the evening Thom asked what time it was, fearing that it was getting too late, stating that he didn’t want to keep us away from doing other things that we had to do. We all laughed at this. Really, where else would we want to have been? 🙂

Where else, for sure. For it is in a venue like this, like Point Rock, that a true musician (a troubadour?) like Thom Swift , is able to have this one on one with their audience, the time to share, to play their songs the way that they want to, the way they are supposed to be played and truly take their audience away. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts, as they say.

Thanks for another wonderful evening, Thom! And thanks again, Mary, for making it happen!

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