Veteran guitarist and songwriter Tom Guerra was a guest on the May 15 edition of Greasy Tracks where he discussed his just-released album, Sudden Signs Of Grace.
Click here to listen to an archive of the show.
In addition to playing a handful of tracks from the album, Guerra and host Chris Cowles spotlighted some of their favorite guitarists.
The album, Guerra’s fourth, features nine original compositions and two interesting covers: “Streets of Baltimore” and “Gimme Some Water.” The former, while oft-covered over the years, was one of the most-beloved songs associated with the late Gram Parsons who recorded it for his debut solo release, GP, in 1973. The later, an Eddie Money track which appeared on his second album, Life For The Taking, in 1979, had as special connection for Guerra who got to know Money over the years.
“When I heard Eddie (Money) was sick, I recorded one of my favorite tunes of his and sent him a copy,” Guerra said. Money passed away at the age of 70 last year.
Similar to earlier projects, Guerra enlisted the help of some crack musicians to help bring his songs to life in the studio, including long-time collaborator Kenny Aaronson who has worked with the likes of Bob Dylan, The Yardbirds and George Harrison. Keyboardist Matt Zeiner and drummer Mike Kosacek rounded out the backing band while Morgan Fisher (Mott The Hoople) contributed piano on “Just Like The Sun” and Scott Rath provided a sublime pedal steel to “Streets of Baltimore.”
The album, which came out on May 12, has been well received. Pete Prown, music editor for Vintage Guitar magazine wrote: “With his previous albums, Tom (Guerra) established himself as a fine rock and roll guitarist. Sudden Signs Of Grace shows his growth and new direction as a songwriter steeped in the Laurel Canyon school of songwriting.”
Since the late 1970s, Guerra has been a popular guitarist on the New England club circuit, playing with a host of leading blues, rock and R&B acts.
He first gained notoriety after being featured in the March 1991 issue of Guitar Player. Over the years, he has recorded or played with Rick Derringer, The Dirty Bones Blues Band, E Street Band drummer Max Weinberg, Mark Nomad, The Easton Brothers with Muddy Waters bassist Charles Calmese, Jai Johanny “Jaimoe” Johanson of The Allman Brothers Band, Second Son, Guitar Shorty, Adolph Jacobs of The Coasters, Aaronson and The Delrays, for which he received acclaim from Buddy Guy.
He formed Mambo Sons in 1999 and the group released four albums of original music over the next 15 years.
In 2014, Guerra released his first solo album, All of the Above, a collection of 11 original rock tracks. The CD was critically acclaimed and favorably reviewed in numerous music and guitar magazines as well as mainstream media such as The Huffington Post.
He also spent a five-year period working for Johnny Winter, penning liner notes as the guitarist released a handful of live recordings via The Bootleg Series and has done extensive studio work since the late 1980’s.
In 2016, he released Trampling Out the Vintage followed by American Garden in 2018