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...