Rampant Tom-isms

Well, here is my little corner of the world wherein I'll randomly add thoughts , opinions and writings from time to time ...about music, the music industry and life... thoughts and opinions that mean everything and nothing at the same time...enjoy!

THOUGHTS, OPINIONS and WRITINGS

The Rosemary District - A Flip Phone Pic and Guitar Music Collaboration Visual Art Slide Show

Flip Phone Artist Pauly Salvatori and Guitar Composer Tom Salvatori collaborate once again to create a Visual Art slide show of images from The Rosemary District

Nocturnal Nocturne - A Flip Phone Pic and Guitar Music Collaboration Visual Art Slide Show

Flip Phone Artist (and Cousin) Pauly Salvatori and Guitar Composer Tom Salvatori collaborate to create a Visual Art slide show that asks the question...Is Darkness is the Absence of Light, or, is Light the Absence of Darkness?

ARCHIVE DIVE #5 - Send in the Clowns - Stephen Sondheim - Arranged for Nylon String Guitar by Tom Salvatori, 1974

So much fun! Another pleasant surprise - on the reel-to-reel that I recently found...a piece of instrumental music I recorded in 1974 - it's a solo Nylon String Guitar arrangement of 'Send in the Clowns,' a song written by Stephen…

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ARCHIVE DIVE #4 - Heitor Villa-Lobos: Prelude 3 in A minor - performed by Tom Salvatori, 1974

Another piece from the old reel-to-reel tape I recently found - it's a recording of Heitor Villa-Lobos' Prelude No. 3 in A minor. I studied this piece with Duane Tutaj, my guitar teacher from Elmhurst IL, who entered me into…

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ARCHIVE DIVE #3 - APOCALYPSE 1976 Our Prog Rock Demo Tape - found in 2022 and released as an LP by Guerssen Records!

RELEASED March 25, 2022 - Apocalypse music, after 46 years in a dusty old storage bin, FINALLY sees the light of day thanks to Steve Krakow (Music Writer/Historian aka Plastic Crimewave), Sara Gossett (Dreamscapes and Nostalgia Artist) and the…

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The Four Seasons of Suites Collection - Solo Nylon String Guitar

A collection of my original solo nylon string guitar suites, composed to evoke the nature and sentiment of each of the four seasons

1. Springtime Suite in E Minor (2013) - A season of April showers and May flowers... 

  • i…
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ARCHIVE DIVE #2 - Home (Is Where I Want to Be) - The 1977 Single Release that Never Was :)

Home (Is Where I Want to Be) - Tom Salvatori...the 1977 single release that never was :)

Here's a fun video to post...in addition to the 1974 reel-to-reel tape found in that old box of sheet music, there was also…

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ARCHIVE DIVE #1 - Old reel-to-reel recordings from 1974!

Babylon: Traditional - Arranged for Nylon String Guitars by Tom Salvatori, 1974

Sooooo...here's quite a recent find! While going through an old box of sheet music I found a reel-to-reel tape of one of my first multi-track recording efforts...a traditional…

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RESPITE GUITAR IN NATURE SUITE - 28:00 SLIDE SHOW

July 6, 2023 - FINALLY! At long last we have finished the production of the slide show that was envisioned to accompany the RESPITE GUITAR IN NATURE SUITE. If you ever need a 30 minute escape from the rattle and…

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A Year in the Life - Sheet Music Book published by Les Productions d'Oz, CANADA

Solo Nylon String Guitar Compositions by Tom Salvatori  

A Year in the Life is an album of all-original solo nylon string guitar compositions conceived to evoke the nature and sentiment of each appropriate month of the year. I compose in…

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THE WAY BACK STORY: I was awakened that night…startled to see that my classical guitar had become possessed by…ALICE COOPER!

Imagine my surprise. Just after paying homage to my favorite guitar heroes on my recently released “Parlour Favorites (2016)” album…and just as I was arriving at the pinnacle of peace and tranquility as a composer - I was…

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Liner Notes from 1997's Invoking the Veiled Reference Album

A Road Map Through the Veiled References: 

1……..  The Time in Nick’s Bottle…..4.34 

In this piece, a tip of the hat goes to Nick Drake’s Fruit Tree and Jim Croce’s Time in a Bottle.  More than likely, their influence is…

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Liner Notes from 1995's Under Cover of Darkness Album

It was August 10, 1994, and I spent the evening alone. With my family safely tucked away at Eagle River, I tinkered with a bottle of Amaretto Di Saronno and what has now become the core of this recording. 

As…

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My Top Thirty Popular (Non-classical) Albums

In no particular order...

1. The Grays - Ro Sham Bo

2. Toad the Wet Sprocket - Pale

3. Brian Vander Ark - Resurrection 

4. REM - Automatic for the People 

5. E - A Man called E 

6. Eels…

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Did I or did I not play Carnegie Hall? That is the question

Guys in the studio sometimes disagree, or agree to disagree just to stir the pot...play a joke...start a rumor...whatever...just to get under each other’s skin once in a while. I suppose the same thing happens in the military, in the…

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Ahhh The Glory in Family Music Reviews

The best way to get a real kick to the stomach is to ask your family members to listen to your music and to please render an opinion. Remember, these are the people who have seen you in your underwear…suffered…

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The Purity and Beauty of Instrumental Music

I sometimes think that one of the best ways to ruin a piece of music is to take pen to paper and start writing lyrics. It occurs to me that adding lyrics can be fraught with difficulty; and oft-times reveals…

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Tom Salvatori – Guitar Composer A Lifetime in Music...an Autobiography

EARLY FAMILY LIFE

I was born on December 29, 1958, and I grew up in Famiglia Salvatori, a family of seven siblings from a western Chicago, Illinois suburb named Elmhurst. I ranked right in the middle among our seven brothers…

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Marketing my Work as a Composer - Ugh, I’d Rather be Fishing  

Funny thing is, being a composer is a lot like being a fisherman. Please bear with me as I explain. To be a fisherman, one needs to enjoy the sport of fishing dearly in and of itself and without condition…

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