Tom Stone and the Soldiers of Fortune
Croydon, New South Wales, Australia
Music
Press
This band has no press
Discography
Passing Ships in Foreign Lands (LP 2008)
Tracks streamed and/or radio played - Trainwreck, Quiet Anger, Cold in Stockholm and Passing Ships In Foreign Lands
Photos
Bio
Tom Stone and the Soldiers of Fortune first got it together in Jan 2006.
Tom had a show lined up and no band. So he called up Chris Duffy (Bass) and Dan Nash (Drums), some friends who he had played with over the years before in various formative bands.
With no rehearsal the three played a show that included every tune they collectively knew from previous bands. To extend the time they jammed those tunes out. At the end of it they were a band.
From then on they got together when they could over the next few years, finding time to record "Passing Ships in Foreign Lands" (released 2008). It was during the sessions that made up this record that the Soldiers found Tim Byron (Keys). Tim and Tom had known each other for a few years but had never played together. Tim's keys, though found late in the process, added extra depth to the sound of the soldiers which was immediately shown in the live shows following his enlistment.
So it was no surprise that before their debut was even released that Tom Stone and the Soldiers of Fortune found themselves beginning to record it's follow-up "Albatross" (To be released in early 2010). The songs on Albatross explore a more progressive blues strain of songwriting and playing than had been heard on the more eclectic first album.
These are the songs which are the foundation of the Soldiers current live set. While Tom Stone is a songwriter whose tunes mine melodicism and psychedelic exploration while maintaining their rock and roll heart, it is on stage that Tom and the rest of the Soldiers shine.
Together the Soldiers share a love of playing loud and fuzzy, stretching the songs till breaking point or compressing them down and firing them out like a machine gun - laying into the material as the mood and the sound dictates. Able to play 20min or 2 hour sets as required while still conveying the heart of the material to their audience.
Using the chemistry that has come from playing together over the years they readily improvise their performance - taking their cues from the great British Blues bands of the late 60s - Cream, Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, The Groundhogs and Jimi Hendrix.
Never slavish copyists they hope the spirit of the music they love comes through when they get up to play their tunes.
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