By Julie Toye
For The Herald Standard
Recording a live CD last summer seemed the natural thing to do for Pittsburgh musician Bill Toms and his band, Hard Rain.
Returning seven months later to the same Blawnox bar for the formal CD release party at Moondog's on January 23, 2010, likewise, seemed the next natural thing to do.
To record "Live At Moondog's: Another Moonlight Mystery, " Toms brought in Rick Witkowski, well-known area musician and owner of Studio L., to capture the near-flawless music and warm ambiance of the hot June night in one, single, live-take recording.
Worst case scenario, Toms figured, would be that the project could be set aside and another live recording night be scheduled if, for some reason, the June live performance failed to meet his expectations.
"I had the confidence that the band was playing at a high level, and I wanted to capture that moment in time," Toms said.
No second take or second live recording night was needed from the band which consists of Toms, guitarist/songwriter/producer Tom Breiding, saxophone player Phil Brontz, bass guitarist Scott "Scooter" Tamulinas, drummer Bernie Herr, and newest member, keyboard player "Sudden" Steve Binsberger, formerly of Eighth Street Rox.
Instead, what resulted after the sweaty bar crowd, Toms, the band and Witkowski left Moondog's in June is now a stunning performance, delivering exceptionally fine quality sound over Toms' solidly constructed music and lyrics on the new disc's 11 tracks.
Anything and everything about the recording night at Moondog's thoroughly impressed Witkowski, a veteran musical fixture in Pittsburgh since his early days with Crack The Sky and B.E. Taylor. He bubbled with enthusiasm, describing fans' respectful dedication to Toms and Hard Rain, to the band's "polished act," and just how easily the entire show and night recording flowed.
Witkowski, himself one of the area's most well-known guitarists, said he also felt an additional overwhelming surprise as an artist when he joined Toms onstage to play guitar on a few songs. He noted that he experienced a rare type of high-level artistic compatibility with another guitarist that night.
"It was like spontaneous combustion," he said with much inflection of his voice of the thrill he received playing along with Toms on "Move It On Down The Road," and "Mona Lisa Smile."
And when he was done praising Toms, Witkowski went out down the line to each band member, some of whom recorded with him decades ago, expressing kudos all the way. He especially noted how impressed he was with Herr's transition from percussion to drums, just how talented a keyboard player Binsberger has become and how skilled Tamulinas is on bass guitar.
Toms, former 19-year guitarist for Joe Grushecky and The Houserockers, pulled together a list of favorite songs for the live recording project. In essence, "Another Moonlight Mystery," provides fans and newcomers to Toms' music with a live "best of" collection of tunes from Toms' solo and Hard Rain studio recordings.
While some songs were played and recorded on the new live CD close to their original form, favorites such as "Mona Lisa Smile," and "Smithfield Cafe" took on a whole new feel in expanded form with added guitar and other instrumental solos.
Even though Pittsburgh music fans are known to cheer loudly for their favorite bands and songs and drive sometimes far distances to support local bands playing in other states -- like Pittsburgh Steeler fans known on occasion to boo their own team -- some local online music followers are opinionated enough to give thumbs down reviews of some local artists' work in harsh editorial when unhappy with what they hear and see.
Infact, sometimes entertainment blogs and Pittsburgh music website guestbooks get utterly ugly with unfair criticism, not just of the different direction the artist wants to go in, but of personal aspects of that artist's decisions.
In this respect, Toms has been no stranger to being unfairly targeted at times for his personal decision to leave his long-time Houserocker gig to pursue his own music. In some later instances, he was criticized simply for putting down his revered electric guitar for rests, to favor an acoustic sound, a smaller and more intimate venue and audience, more of a comfortable lean towards the folk, roots or country-influenced musical genre and a troubadour approach to touring that he began in recent years.
For chasing his own dream, Toms drew -- but wisely and essentially ignored -- criticism, gracefully going on his way to the next show. And the next. And the one and ten after that.
Guitar heroes really do come a dime a dozen, but Toms, respectfully, continues to be one of the area's very finest. The new CD captures Toms and Breiding at the top of their game. Toms pokes fun of himself in the title track, "Another Moonlight Mystery, when an impressed fan claimed that the guitarist took the fan's breath away and offered encouragement that Toms would be a star soon -- only that was 18 years ago and the level of predicted stardom still hasn't yet come.
Older songs now recorded live, such as the CD's title track and "Sweat Stained Shirts" sound fresh, as though they were newly written rather than old favorites. When asked why his older songs don't sound "old," Toms replied that he pays no attention to trends and what is commercially popular.
"Music -- or at least, what I am affected by -- is timeless. I try my best to work within my own framework, not what the music biz dictates. So, I believe the audience will connect on a more intelligent level to that honesty. I sometimes feel that I could easily be writing music in the 19th century," he explained.
Brontz agreed, too, that Toms "writes real Americana music and roots rock and roll that never seem to go out of style" and "never writes pop songs that do go in and out of fashion."
In recent years in Pittsburgh music, certain things were a given around town. One such given is that Toms' strong song writing skills provide him with a comfortable edge, an added gift for song arrangement and a seemingly endless supply of passion for his art and creative, intriguing new material.
Another given around town is that Hard Rain continues to help Toms' music grow.
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