They say about some people, “he or she has this thing.”
Tom Meny has this thing.
Okay, so the first year I went to Kerrville I sat in the third row and watched all of the New Folk contestants, and it turned me to jelly. Jelly doesn't perform well, and I resolved that if I ever got to go back to Kerrville, I would avoid the competition until after the winners were announced, then catch everybody later in the festival.
In 2015, when Kerrville announced the 32 finalists I figured it couldn’t hurt to click on a few of the video links the Rouses put up on facebook. Just a couple, you know, to hear what was what.
The first video I clicked was Tom Meny playing his song “Say When”. I listened all the way through, then closed my laptop and walked away, thinking yeah, I’d probably better not check out any more videos if I plan on actually buying an airline ticket. He’s that good.
Down in Texas I missed Tom’s set in the competition (like everybody else’s, by design), but l looked forward to hearing him around the campfires. Unfortunately for me, Tom skedaddled off the ranch, so I didn’t see him until almost a week later when he came back to swap some songs. Listening to Tom around the picnic table I found out he's a genuine, sweet, and very funny guy as well as a groove machine and next-level singer and songwriter.
And now you have a chance to hear Tom up close, because he's playing here in North Carolina March 3, 4, and 5 with Amy Kucharik, Becky Warren and me.
Here are the shows:
March 3 Nash Street Tavern, Hillsborough 8:30PM
March 4 Doodad Farm Indoor Concert, Greensboro 6:30PM
March 5 The Rooster’s Wife, Aberdeen 6:36PM (that's actually a thing. Ask them about it)
And here's an example of Tom Meny's art (don’t tell Tom, but I almost always tear up when I hear this song).