One Last Salute...

The idea of having a blog is becoming rather tedious I must say. The idea of putting words most people don't care about or even read on a page is becoming more and more unappealing. I used to blog a few times a week but over the last year it's become more of a hassle than a pleasure. I will usually think of something to write but then stop half way through and decide it wasn't worth it. Don't get me wrong the use of a blog to help get things of your chest is sometimes a godsend but more often than not someone somewhere will scoff and say something along the lines of "don't use the Internet as a diary" as if they have never written something out of negative emotion on their facebook page in the heat of the moment before. So judgemental hypocrites and sheer lack of motivation seem to be a big factor in not really bothering to keep this alive anymore. Sure there are plenty of things I would love to say. Things to get off my chest, to bitch, to moan, to brag etc. But it's all becoming a bit self serving, much like this post now.

To anyone who reads this in an effort to get to know what goes on underneath the facade of a happy-go-lucky 21 year old, just add me on the old facebook.

However before I sign off, for maybe the last time, I will share with you my 2010. A year that has pissed me off, slapped me in the face and was perhaps the most significant year of the last decade for me. I will make it as short and painless as possible so here goes:

2010 saw me break up with my long term girlfriend. Was I upset? yes. Was I angry? yes. Am I still bitter? A little bit. Are we still "friends"? No. Was it me or her that did the "breaking up"? Her. Do I hate her for it? I did, now I simply just don't care. Gossip over.

But if one thing did come out of the situation it was the fact I picked up my guitar and played it for hours at a time. THAT is probably the most significant thing to happen to me in 2010. I picked up a guitar, taught myself some chords, learned how to sing and play at the same time. recorded an album after only playing for 6 months (What a hero I am) and 8 months down the line I am getting better everyday. Result!

I had an "up and down" summer which saw me spend a lot of time with my very good friend Severiano, or Xavi as I call him, who has taught me a lot about life and friendship. He is a friend I can always count on. He is possibly the most loyal and greatest friend I have ever had and if you are reading this my friend, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for helping me through a tough summer.

Recently things have been going very well. In short, I've met someone. A girl. exciting stuff. I was going through the whole "Am I really ready to start dating again?" phase and it just kind of happened. I met someone who I just got along with straight away. Someone who shares my love for music and drama. Someone who makes me smile even when I feel like crap. And someone who has given me motivation, something which has been lacking in the last few months. And there's the house of 61. I live in an incredible house with some amazing people. Some of my best friends are all under one roof and for the first time in a long time, I am happy. So there's that.

In all this I realise how idiotic it was to write all the stuff at the start about no one caring about what I had to say and about bitching online, when that is essentially what I've just done. Oh well, one last moan never hurt.

So yeah. I will leave on a positive note however. In the words of the almighty Mumford & Sons

"If you want to feel alive then learn to love your ground"

Love.Peace.Respect.Unity

So Say We All

-- Tom RDD

Love, Peace & Unity

I have had one of the most inspirational days of my live. My good friend Alex came to visit us in Worcester. Now Alex is one of the most genuine, talented and humble people I know. His music is based around the ideals of peace, love and nature. The beautiful message coupled with fantastic guitar work sends shivers down my spine and today I was lucky enough to play guitar with him and have what us musicians like to call a "jamming session". I watched and listened in awe as he showed me some of his music. After listening to some of his music I told him I was embarrassed to play in front of him but being the nice guy he is he insisted I play. So I did. We went on to jam for a couple of hours until he had to go back to Cardiff.

Listening to his music and talking to him about it for hours really inspired me to go out and write some new songs. So I did. Me and my friend Steve went down to a secluded spot by the river that runs through Worcester and sat there for a bout an hour and a half watching the world go by and started writing lyrics. We wrote a song about the beauty in the world and how the hustle and bustle of the 9 - 5 makes people blind to the beauty we saw in front of us. It's still working progress but I feel happy about the direction it's heading in.

If you would like to check out my boy Alex's music visit:

http://www.myspace.com/alexsedgmondduo

it's well worth a listen.

peace.love.respect.unity

-- Tom RDD

Can you give it?

Possibly my favourite Maccabees song. Sick tune live at Reading 2010 (I was there!). Enjoy!

What The Crow Brings...

Is there anything more soothing than watching the rain and listening to the very phenomenal Low Anthem? I don't know if there is. Nature and beauty. Pretty lush, don't you agree?

This Is Growing Up...

Writing new material is a fun process. I really love it. Since the summer I've managed to write 4 solid songs that I hope to record at my student house in Worcester (DIY FTW!). I've also been told today that my good friend Tom is going to a marketing project using Tom RDD... RESULT! By the end we should have some amazing promo work and a music video. Exciting times!

In other news my life is going in a very positive direction... and that's all I have to say about that.

peace.love.respect.unity

So say we all

-- Tom RDD

I've Hidden My Feelings Under Rocks...

As I have decided to start posting again I think it's only right that I give you a little musical pleasure. My friend Alex, who has help expand my knowledge of music (especially folk music) immensely, told me to check this guy out. So I did and I loved this track. So enjoy the music of Jeff Lang.

This City Needs A Hero... (the beginning)

Right I have decided now is the time for a blog post. It hasn't been all that long I know and I am sure no one has missed me rambling about life but even so It's time for an update. I never really did a summer 2010 update as it were. Well what is there to say? It was a pretty emotional summer to be honest. I saw some old friends, made some new ones, had friends from university come to visit, I recorded my solo album, I battled demons and worked 39 hours a week to get some money in my pocket. So the usual few months off before Uni starts again really. I wish I could tell you that my summer was filled with adventure and excitement, and at times it was, but the majority was spent either wallowing in self pity, playing my guitar or at work.

But like all good(ish) things it came to an end and now I am back at University with a spring in my step, for this is the first time I have embarked on the University experience without worrying about certain things. Over the summer I really have become a very apathetic person. When I dealt with apathy in the past it was a depressing matter as I was unable to feel emotional connections with those I loved, now the apathy I feel is a complete disregard for pretty much everything that isn't important to me. I know this is nothing to happy about but it kind of feels good not having to worry about things for a change. I have no pressure on my shoulders to be someone I don't want to be and to do something I don't want to do, which is something I guess was thrust upon me by my situation over the last few years. So a sense of freedom is definitely putting wind in my sales. However this attitude is not so great for my degree and health so therefore I imagine I will have to do some rearranging before long but I shall deal with that when the time comes.

Anything else to report? Well, I am currently working on songs to go towards a new recording (current working title of which is "This City Needs A Hero"). I've written some new material over the last month that I really think tops anything else I've written. The majority of the music on "the city limits..." is pretty much a diary of my life between January - July 2010. The new material is still filled with stories about love, loss and all that other deep and meaningful stuff but I think it is a vast improvement on the material I started writing at the beginning of the my self-taught guitar adventure. I would also like to point out that I have only been playing guitar for about 8 months and to be where I am now, without blowing my own trumpet, is quite good really.

But anyway enough ramblings, if you would like to hear some Tom RDD music feel free to check the myspace over at:

www.myspace.com/tomrdd

OR come see a live show (which have started to happen!)



peace.love.respect.unity


"Live fast. Die old"

-- Tom RDD

I will not grow up

This will be my last post for a while. I'm sure you're really not all that bothered by this but if by chance you are I will probably be back writing when I have some more interesting things to say. Until next time enjoy these words from the mouth of Frank Turner who was by far my favourite act of the Reading Festival 2010. So enjoy.


Well I guess I should confess that I am starting to get old
All the latest music fads all passed me by and left me cold
All the kids are talking slang I won't pretend to understand
All my friends are getting married, mortagages and pension plans
And it's obvious my angry adolescent days are done
And I'm happy and I'm settled in the person I've become
But that doesn't mean I'm settled up and sitting out the game
Time may change a lot but some things may stay the same

And I won't sit down
And I won't shut up
And most of all I will not grow up
And I won't sit down
And I won't shut up
And most of all I yeah I won't grow up

Oh maturity's a wrapped up package deal so it seems
And ditching teenage fantasy means ditching all your dreams
All your friends and peers and family solemnly tell you you will
Have to grow up be an adult yeah be bored and unfulfilled
Oh when no ones yet explained to me exactly what's so great
About slaving 50 years away on something that you hate
Look I'm meekly shuffling down the path of mediocrity
Well if that's your road then take it but it's not the road for me

And I won't sit down
And I won't shut up
And most of all I will not grow up
And I won't sit down

And if all you ever do with your life
Is photosynthesize
Then you deserve every hour of these sleepless nights
That you waste wondering when you're gonna die

Now I'll play and you sing
The perfect way for the evening to begin
Now I'll play and you sing
The perfect way for the evening to begin

And I won't sit down
And I won't shut up
And most of all yeah I won't grow up
And I won't sit down
And I won't shut up
And most of all I will not grow up
And I won't sit down
And I won't shut up
And most of all I will not grow up

I don't know if you really care if you see me again...

As much as I dislike the direction The King Blues are currently heading in, I do however think that "Under The Fog" is perhaps one of the finest albums to come out of the UK ska punk scene in the last decade and this song (although not the original album version) is one of my favourite songs. Enjoy.



peace.love.respect.unity

-- Tom RDD

Everybody Scream Your Heart Out...

Although It's not my usual cup of tea this song just reminds me of better days

A brief update... because I feel I should

I really have been pretty crap at updating this in the last few months. Well, I say crap but I still manage to post about once a month but I guess as the Internet is being updated about my life weekly you could in matter of fact call that crap. Anyway, I guess I am writing this out of my excitement about going to the Reading Festival next week! WOOO! (that's me being excited) I will be going to see some very awesome bands including my teen-idols Blink 182 (FUCK YEAH!), My favourite band of the moment, Mumford and Sons and others that don't get a fancy title such as Frank Turner, Alkaline Trio, Streetlight Manifesto, The Libertines, The Maccabees and others. So in all a pretty epic weekend. And whilst I'm there my daring plan of attaching "Tom RDD" CD's to frisbees and throwing them on stage will be in affect.

So yeah, that's a vague update. Not really a riveting read I know but I've really got nothing at the moment. So until next time.

peace.love.respect.unity

-- Tom RDD

Love will not betray you, dismay or enslave you, it will set you free...

I have neglected writing on here as of late. It's true I have been vaguely busy what with working full time, recording my album (which can be listened to over @ www.myspace.com/tomrdd) seeing friends and generally not really doing... well anything. So I feel it's time to write something deep and meaningful. So what to write about...

On a rather random drive around mid-Sussex with a friend I re-discovered an awesome song from back in the "good ol' days of the 90's". The song is called Affirmation by Savage Garden (I know not my normal cup of tea but I was young once!). What I really love about the song is the lyrics especially the line

"I believe you can't appreciate real love until you've been burned"

Now, I hear you saying to yourself "oh god, a blog about love and breaking up, wahh!" well I could dive into the past to bring up something I've managed to some what get over or I could go on about how positive the future could possibly be. Believe it or not I used to be an optimist, it's true! I used to be labeled a "Happy-Go-Lucky-Ska-Kid" (whatever that is) and see the good in life but somewhere between the ages of 16 and 21 I lost that. But at my weakest I've had the opportunity to be my strongest and I think I've managed that.

I think it's only natural to hang on to the past but we can't keep carrying all our baggage with us if we want to survive. People will come into your life and unfortunately some of them are going to hurt you and some are going to break your heart. We can either sit there in self pity or we can drag ourselves out of that and get back on track with our lives. It's hard, God is it hard to put that kind of pain behind you, I mean after 4 years of being in a relationship it's been indescribably hard to suddenly be thrown back into the world of being single and not having someone there for you when you most need them. But I truly believe everything happens for a reason. In all of this I have had great friends who have let me cry on their shoulder, who have watched me unleash anger and frustration on walls and other inanimate objects and now it's time for me to repay them for all they've done for me by being happy and living my life the way it should be.

peace.love.respect.unity

-- Tom RDD

and I sing...

Just wow

No other pain, like losing a soul mate...

Some great lyrics from the very awesome Xavier Rudd, who I hopefully will be going to see in Brighton town tomorow!

Enjoy!

"Love Comes And Goes" from the album "Koonyum Sun"


Love comes and goes
Sometimes decades sometimes months
Raise you up to the sky
Make you feel like every little thing is bright inside you
Crashing back down
Make you so sick that you want to drown
No other pain, like losing a soul mate

The roads we take in life often seem to be very strong
We walk them carelessly like we’re walking on bricks and stone
Only when we look ‘round we will see the road is packed
Oh, there we must move forward, gently as we tread

To carry our guilt sometimes seems the only thing that’s easy
Even when your flesh and bones and all it is you need
While good and evil will say that the truth will set you free
But I guess we have to wait sometimes, wait around and see

Now see the sun rising again
Brand new colors, brand new man again
Picking up the pieces of the brokenness
Sweeping up the pieces, the pieces that we had

Love comes and goes
Sometimes decades sometimes months
Raise you up to the sky
Make you feel like every little thing is bright inside you
Crashing back down
Make you so sick that you want to drown
No other pain, like losing a soul mate

peace.love.respect.unity.

-- Tom RDD

The City Limits...

Dear reader, instead of reading some words wouldn't you rather listen to some music? I thought so, so why don't you head over to http://www.myspace.com/tomrdd and check out some the songs. I would appreciate it.

peace.love.respect.unity

-- Tom RDD

Oh My God, It's Charlie Darwin

A few months back my friend Alex sent me a looooooooong list of bands to check out. It was a list predominantly filled with folk bands ranging from Bob Dyaln and Pete Doherty's solo work to Scandinavian folk duo, First Aid Kit. Since then that list has literally been my bible. I have discovered so many different bands that I never knew existed until this year and the world of folk music has been blown wide open to me. One of the bands that were on the list are a band called The Low Anthem. I checked them out and quickly found the song "To Ohio". The song is mesmerising, haunting and beautiful. But today, many months on, I managed to get my hand on the album "Oh My God, It's Charlie Darwin" for the very reasonable price of £5 from a local independent record shop. I burnt it to my laptop as soon as I home and pressed the play button as soon as it was done. I am on track 7 of 12 and I have been mesmerised since the opening note on track one. I was a few tracks in when I was compelled to write about how good the music I was hearing actually is. It's nothing short of phenomenal. It really makes me think about how mediocre musicians and artists like Lady Gaga and Dizzy Rascal (no offence if you like them, this is just my opinion) can make so much money from simply singing nonsense, generic songs and a band like The Low Anthem, filled with passion and soul, are barely known. Having said that I'm glad they aren't mainstream as many bands seem to often change their style once they have been thrust into the public eye (I hope to dear god that Mumford & Sons don't follow this trend). But in a world obsessed with style over substance it really is something special to find a band that really embody everything I love about music. Below is a video of the band performing "To Ohio". Enjoy.



peace.love.respect.unity

-- Tom RDD

I hear them all...

As the winter winds litter London with lonely hearts...

"You'll be happy and wholesome again"



by far my favourite song in the history of ever

peace.love.respect.unity

-- Tom RDD

Who will take my place when I'm gone?

what a song!

Better Days

I'm on a bit of a writing spree at the moment. As good as it to be kept busy by being creative it's also a bloody pain as now I have more songs to fit onto my up and coming album (which I only have a day to record!). It would be much easier if I had written songs I don't think are any good but the trouble is all the songs I write I have an emotional connection to as they are my way of dealing with things good and bad. So with more lyrics than I know what to do with here is a new song I wrote today. The working title is "Better Days" but It's probably going to change. Enjoy my words.

Tom RDD - Better Days

Sometimes I wake up and I’m feeling blue
And some days I wake up, missing you
I look back on this year and wonder what went wrong
One moment I had you and the next moment you were gone

Our decisions have been made and they cannot be changed
So look forward to tomorrow and know it can’t be rearranged
Live for today not tomorrow that’s what they say
And there’s no point living in yesterday

Sometimes I wake up and I feel pretty down
But I look at it a different way to turn it right around
Embrace what tomorrow brings, you cannot change the past
And there’s been a few times where I wish I could, and I’d change it fast

They say life is an adventure, so sit back enjoy the ride
But sometimes you want to get off because you feel like you can’t survive
And it’s times like these where you really need that friend
To help you find your smile, to make you happy again

And believe me my friend; I know how low it goes
But I wouldn’t be here if I had taken that road
So remember in all this, you are not alone
And if you need to talk, I’m at the other end of the phone

Sometimes I wake up and I have got a smile
And it doesn’t matter if this happiness only lasts a while
Because I’ve never been happier than when I'm singing my songs
They are like my diary, so feel free to sing along

They say life is an adventure, so sit back enjoy the ride
But sometimes you want to get off because you feel like you can’t survive
And it’s times like these when I’m glad I have that friend
To help me find my smile, to make me whole again

And believe me my friend; I know how low it goes
But I had a dear friend that kept me from that road
So remember in all this, you are not alone
And if you need to talk, I’m at the other end of the phone

peace.love.respect.unity

-- Tom RDD