Tom Lewis (songwriter)

Tom (Thomas John) Lewis (born 1943-04-16) is a Canadian singer and writer of nautical songs.

Biography

Lewis was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland and grew up in Gloucester, England. He served in the British Royal Navy from 1959 until 1983, mostly in the (diesel) Submarine Service.

He developed his interest in sea shanties while frequenting the Howff Folk Song Club of Dunfermline, Scotland, in the 1960s, and began to perform at clubs and festivals in his off-time. On completing his naval service, he emigrated to Salmo, British Columbia, Canada, "to be somewhere completely different to a large port city". In 1987, he began to record and to tour, due to popular demand.

Recordings

Lewis' first solo album, issued in 1987, was "Surfacing" and included two early favorites among his recordings, "The Last Shanty" and "Marching Inland." Those two songs later appeared on the compilation CD, "A Taste of the Maritimes" (1992), the former tune under the title "A Sailor Ain't a Sailor." In 1988 he recorded and toured with William Pint and Felicia Dale. Currently much of his touring happens in the U.K and Europe, giving him more opportunities to perform with his Polish compatriates QFTRY.

His albums have been favorably reviewed in "Dirty Linen" magazine, "Living Tradition" magazine and "Sing Out!" magazine. (The latter calling his song "Radio Times" the "folk equivalent of 'American Pie.'") His songs have also been played on The Midnight Special folk music radio show.

In 2000, he won the "Stan Hugill International Trophy" when the competition was held in Douarnenez, France.

In 2008, he published his tunes and lyrics as "Worth the singin': the Tom Lewis songbook". [cite journal
last=Moeller|first=Matthew|date=2008-05
title=Worth the singin'|journal=Victory Review|volume=33|issue=5|pages=18
url=http://www.victorymusic.org/pdfs/2008/vr_may08.pdf]

Discography

*"Surfacing" (1987)
*"Sea-Dog, See Dog!" (1990)
*"Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor Singer!" (1995)
*"Mixed Cargo" (1999)
*"Poles Apart" (Polish Title: On, My Ocean) (2001) with a seven-man shanty group from Poland ( [http://www.qftry.art.pl/newpageuk/indexuk.html QFTRY] ). In English and Polish.
*"360° All Points of the Compass" (2003)
*"Making Waves" (1992), with William Pint and Felicia Dale

References

* [http://www.tomlewis.net Tom Lewis' website.]
* [http://www.borealisrecords.com/a_lewis.html Borealis Recordings page for Tom Lewis]
*"Seafaring Folk on Trio's Debut," by Mike Joyce. "The Washington Post", June 19, 1992, page WW16. (Favorable review of Tom Lewis, William Pint, and Felicia Dale album, "Making Waves".