Tom Howie is a 22 year-old guitarist and songwriter whose soaring vocals and songwriting talents have drawn comparison to Jeff Buckley and Thom Yorke. In June he will release his third solo album The Right and Wrong of Everything. Howie’s new collection of songs showcases his maturation as a gifted songwriter, singer, and guitar player. Self-produced by Tom and mixed by Ashwin Sood (Sarah McLachlan, Rufus Wainwright), the new album features Tom’s soulful vocals and fluid guitar playing on five tracks. The first single is the Tom Petty-esque “Diamond.”
Though only in his early twenties, Tom can be considered a veteran performer, having begun playing guitar at age eight, performing before audiences at age 13, and later gigging underage in clubs in his hometown of Vancouver, BC. With a guitar given to him by family friend Sarah McLachlan, Tom began writing original songs at age 10, and after receiving a grant from Canada’s FACTOR program, he professionally recorded his first single at age 14.
Tom released his first collection of solo songs when he was just 18. After initially attending college in British Columbia, Tom was awarded a scholarship to attend the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston. In 2009, he recorded his second album, The Chester Sessions, featuring the live favorites “My Voice Is Gone” and the epic “Your Sweet Love.” On his new release, Tom has fleshed out his sound to include layers of guitars, organ, and piano. “Chester was acoustic because that’s how I write, mostly. That doesn’t mean that’s always the most effective way of communicating, however,” Tom explains. He adds, “This new album is more in the direction of how things sound in my head. It’s the next step.”
Recently, Tom has been drawing inspiration from a seemingly unlikely source: Josh Homme—the Queens of the Stone Age and Them Crooked Vultures mastermind. “Josh trusts simplicity yet has the ability to pack a heavy punch with big musical movements,” says Tom. “Josh possesses many songwriting qualities that I hope to be confident enough to embody in the future.”
On his forthcoming tour, with Berklee alums Alvaro Kapaz, Ryan Gleason, and Matt Musty on guitar, bass, and drums respectively, Tom intends to take these new tracks to surprising places. “I’ll be primarily playing electric guitar, rather than solely acoustic as I have in the past,” he shares. “My goal is to achieve a dynamic mixture of electric and acoustic guitars, combined with a tight, driving rhythm section, to push the songs beyond the studio versions.”
Tom has recently relocated to New York City. He and his band will be touring North America this summer and fall.
