Tom Levin

Tom’s teenage years brought him to Alaska, where he lived as an exchange student. It was here that his vocal talents were first discovered – when his host family’s daughter heard him singing in the shower. Urged on by his host family’s belief in his abilities, Tom made his debut as a soloist in the school choir. But when Tom returned to Sweden, he put his music on the shelf and started studying economics.

A few years later, Uppsala University gave him a stipend to study in Sydney, Australia. Then what did he do? Like all aspiring economists, he bought a guitar. And, as he was unable to play a single song, he began to write his own. When Tom returned to Sweden, he formed the band Tennis with a couple of friends. Tennis signed on with Stockholm Records and their single “Shyway” reached the summer hit list of 1996.

But even after this promising start, Tom put his music career back on ice. It wasn’t until 2001 that he finally decided to do a solo album. Tom released the album “Saving Grandma” in 2002, on his own label. It was well received by both the public and the critics and became, among other things, album of the week on Swedish College Radio.

Skip ahead to 2006. Tom Levin launched his second solo album, “Me, my band that I älskar, Kasper and a bunch of friends” that features over 40 musicians. Together with these musicians and co-producer Kasper Lindgren, Tom created a heart-warming, foot-stomping album. The music is rife with influences from rock and bluegrass to big band jazz, pop, country and gospel. His rich, deep voice is what bridges the differences, tying everything together to form a fresh and interesting new sound.

The two singles “I miss her missing me” and “You don’t need your god” were frequently played on Sweden’s biggest public radio station P4. They were also played on P5, P3, P2 and on Swedish College Radio. The album reached 37th place on Sweden’s album chart and the reception from critics and the audience has been overwhelming (see reviews).

In May 2006 STIM (the Swedish version of ASCAP) chose six songs (out of all the songs that were release in Sweden in the last year) to represent Sweden in a mailing to 160 radio producers all over the world: Tom’s song “I miss her missing me” was one of those six.

The video to “You don’t need your God” won WIM TOP 10’s month of May video-chart 2006.

On the 18th of November 2006 Tom Levin won the award for “AC Male Artist of the Year” (New Music Weekly Awards 2006) in the USA. His song "Just” reached #1 on US radio at the end of December 2006 an it stayed as # 1 for four weeks.

During the spring of 2007 Tom's song “Please disturb me” reached # 4 on the same list. “Please disturb me” also reached # 3 on Independent Music Networks Main Chart during the spring of 2007.

May 6 2008 Tom released his first single “I nod my head” from his forthcoming album"Unfair in my favor" that will be released June 11.

For more information please visit www.tomlevin.com

Reviews

"Tom Levin put the crowning touch on the Lucia Night concert. He sounds damn good on CD, but he’s totally irresistible and something extraordinary when heard live." Lilith Eve

"Tom Levin is a melody creator of rank /…/ After a an upward rise throughout the whole concert, we are taken down again and the calming I thank you ends the evening. This thank-you song to Tom Levin’s family seems just as much like a thank-you song to those of us in the audience. I’m still humming." Musiklivet.com, Mattias Jägerskog

"Magical, low-key alternative rock. A blend between the majesty of Pink Floyd and the subtle presence of a singer-songwriter /…/ This unbelievably well-crafted album makes you feel good in every way." Nya Wärmlands Tidningen, Anna Sims

"Check out `I miss her missing me´. That’s exactly how it feels."
Fredrik Virtanen, Aftonbladet, 2005-12-02

"A tasteful mix of singer-songwriter, pop, gospel, country, bluegrass and a drop of jazz. The album reaches its greatest heights in the collaboration with Immanuel gospel on the tracks Save me now, Throw in a t-shirt and You don’t need your god, but the material is strong throughout and I am really taken with it /…/ Me, my band that I älskar, Kasper and a bunch of friends sounds so good that I can’t stop playing it./…/ " Musiklivet.com, Roger Bengtsson

"Tom Levin is an unusual Swedish artist, in part because of the time he spent in Alaska and Australia and in part because of the sound of his music. Tom Levin's music is as American sounding as anything coming out of the states. His mix of americana, country, bluegrass, pop and even gospel would fit on just about any AAA station in this country (compare to Josh Rouse, Robert Earl Keen or Joe Henry). " http://swedesplease.blogspot.com

"These are songs so surprisingly strong that they deserve the best possible framework/…/ Tom Levin writes very good lyrics; it doesn’t even seem strange when he becomes a bit didactic. We can only hope that listeners will appre