HOTINDIENEWS.COM,REVIEW BY SUSANNA RASMUSSEN,"HONEST WITH A PURPOSE
A simple, well-played guitar pairs up nicely with Tom Schafers honest lyrics to create a pleasant, nostalgic feel on this album. His grizzly often powerful voice manages to have a smooth timbre and good tonality throughout, which makes this folk singers work feel both raw and legit.
His first track is reminiscent of a blues track with his solid chord progression makes a nice base on which he builds to show off his soulful, impressive range. This song also features some solid guitar solos, with a bit of call-and-response between the vocals and guitar working its way in towards the middle and through the end to wrap up the song.
His tune Sweet Lullabyes is sweet and pleasant but a little loud and busy for a true lullaby (in fact, I felt much more soothed during the tracks Kross by the Road or Sweet dreams for Brigette and This Little Prayer for Gigi all of which are considerably softer and simpler). Schafers sound is consistently reminiscent and a bit melancholy so the lullaby track does work, if it may have a somewhat misleading title.
This album is actually surprisingly broad and is full of allusions- though the sound has a similar consistency throughout- especially when he includes blues progressions, Aint that a shame and even a few bars of jingle bells to finish up the track Sweet dreams for Brigitte one of the most melancholy tune on the album. These worked because they were tucked in discretely as to not upset the main feel of the album.
His work wraps up with a few tracks whose mellowness makes you yearn for solitude and open spaces. I found Ashes that Fall From the Sky and This Little Prayer for Gigi offered up a nice escape from our heavily layered, quick, sound saturated world. But perhaps my favorite was Sweet Lady where the listener expressly hears what is hinted at throughout the whole work: that this man is singing with both honesty and a purpose.
BLOOD,DIRT AND TEARS, REVIEW FROM KRIS LARSON, www.onlinerock.com
Tom Schafers album Cradle is aptly named. Shafers rough, redneck lullabies are like little pickup trucks full of down-home comfort that drive straight up to the porches of your ears and unload their vibe right into your brain. They are deep South, although Schafer himself hails from Miami Beach.
These songs are about blood and dirt and tears and sadness, and also about love, both tragic and the other kind. To me, the whole album feels country: not new county, with its comic songs and near-rock catchiness, but old country, that is slow, sad and real. However, Schafer considers himself a blues/rock/folk artist.
Regardless of his genre, Schafer is a solid new voice on the music scene. Check out this album if you want the kind of heartbreak music that lifts you up while its bringing you down.
Favorite Track: Blood to Blood
