Tomi at Chickie Wah Wah, September 2017.
Watch "Taking Care of Dreamers," recorded at Alex the Great Studio, produced by Brad Jones.
Listen to Tomi and her band on NPR's World Café as she talks with Ann Powers and plays songs from Come On Blue!
Tomi Lunsford Music
Photos by Pradip Malde, Bob Delevante, Diane Gayden, Michael Manning
Tomi on NPR's World Café
Order your copies of
Come On Blue and High Ground today on this website.
What the critics are saying about Tomi and Come On Blue:
photo by Pradip Malde
Tomi on WWNO's Music Inside Out
Tomi talks about family and music — and sings! — with WWNO New Orleans' Gwen Thompkins on her essential show, Music Inside Out.
Tomi Lunsford
Tomi Lunsford, “Go To People,” on Come On Blue (Seedbank)
"From a Nashville singer ... a tune that could have been written by Guy Clark: with Pete Finney on pedal steel as if he’s less playing the song than overhearing it, a where-are-all-my-friends lament that’s sultry, delicate, sly, even sinister."
— Greil Marcus, Defiant Requiems: The Halting Music of Obama’s Dallas Speech, pitchfork.com
Tomi Lunsford, Come On Blue (Seedbank)
"If her country roots didn’t reach so dad-gum deep, Tomi Lunsford’s vocal instincts would serve her well in the jazz world. The Asheville-to-Nashville singer/songwriter’s ability to hold on to a note ‘til all the emotion the lyric requires is extracted makes for an unbroken string of distinctively delivered originals, co-written primarily with Warren Denney and Robin Eaton. Her one-of-a-kind vocal approach is evident from the leadoff track “You Can Leave Me Now,” to the instantly memorable chorus of “Go To People,”the classic country torch tune, “Rain,”and the rousing “Jesus Was A Union Man.” A quirky, bluesy take on the traditional “I Wish I Was a Mole In The Ground” is an added treat. Come On Blue is a legit candidate for this year’s “Best Of”’s."
— Duane Verh, Roots Music Report (5-Star Review)
Review: Exciting Performances From Singer Tomi Lunsford
"Come On Blue includes wah-wah guitar, pedal steel and a saw, and singer Tomi Lunsford mimics them all. Elsewhere her voice sounds like a trombone, trumpet or sax, Janis Joplin, Elvis Presley or a police siren. The great niece of folklorist Bascom Lunsford is an exciting singer who leaves listeners wondering what the next verse will bring. It helps that Lunsford has such a powerful, flexible instrument. She boldly attacks country blues with scoops and slides, hints at a yodel and pingponging between notes. Singing such words as "howl" and "shout," she makes them sound like what they mean.
"On her second album, the Nashville-based Lunsford rarely rests, kicking off the first couple of cuts and punctuating others with wordless but entertaining postscripts. Lunsford's a talented composer too, and she had a hand in writing 11 of the 12 songs. Highlights include the love ballad 'You Can Leave Me Now,' the gospel shuffle 'Jesus Was a Union Man' and the whimsical blues 'Go To People.'
'I had go-to people all over town," she laments. "But one got married, and another one drowned. ... All my go-to people are gone.' ... "
— Steven Wine, Associated Press