Tom Butwin : Quirky Singer/Songwriter

I actually remembered Tom earlier today when I was jamming along to the Beatles' "Something", written by the genius George Harrison. I recalled Tom doing a quirky version of the track on his ukulele, accompanied by a very talented bass player. Unfortunately, I must have gone through his channel and forgotten to subscribe, so make sure you don't make the same mistake. Check out this sweet, crooner-rock cover of "Something", I know you'll like it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Roj-Sh3ZXPY

Great isn't it? I love the fact that he's using a ukulele, knowing that George Harrison himself was a great fan of ukuleles. From what I've read/heard about him, he had a garage full of ukuleles, that he shared with his friends, including the guitar master, Eric Clapton. The story between Harrison and Clapton is quite interesting, so if you don't know about it, I urge you to look it up. Essentially, the two were friends but Clapton fell for Harrison's wife (for whom Harrison wrote "Something"), and wrote the songs "Wonderful Tonight", "Layla" and "Bell Bottom Blues". Eventually Clapton ended up with Harrison's wife, and yet Harrison and Clapton remained friends. That says a lot about their relationship I guess, but anyways, back to the wonderfully quirky Tom Butwin.

Coincidentally, the second cover of his that I tuned into was of Eric Clapton's "Wonderful Tonight". Playing his acoustic Martin guitar, he is accompanied by the very talented bassist, John Garland. However, the cover does have a little quirk to it. Instead of the smooth, classic rock feel supplied by Eric Clapton, the two took on the tune in a reggae fashion. I personally loved it, and think Clapton would dig it too, considering his fondness of reggae (as he covered Marley's "I Shot The Sheriff". What do you think?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEUEPD8_Yz0

Stunning little cover, and very easy to listen to. I personally got a touch of John Mayer in Tom's vocals and felt that John's bass playing was ideal for reggae. Mixing songs and genres is such a fortunate trick of acoustic singer/songwriters nowadays, and Tom pulled his trick off wonderfully. Of course, everyone's entitled to their opinion, and others may be hardcore Clapton fans, who feel everything should be kept classic. Nevertheless, fusing music is something that's been happening forever, and I'm glad to see Tom thinking outside the box.

Aside from his fantastic little covers, Tom's got a couple of originals that are incredibly touching and once again, easy to listen to. One that caught my ear in particular is entitled "Little Red Line". Although it's got a rough sounding, high electric intro, it matches up perfectly with Tom's wails throughout the song. I think it's the kind of thing any pop, rock or soul fan could get into. I certainly got a lot of genres in the track and think you could spot a bunch in there too. I do wonder what his inspiration for the song was though. But for now, enjoy the song, don't forget to subscribe to his channel, "like" his Facebook page and keep supporting singer/songwriters trying to make it! Check back tomorrow for another fantastic artist.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUg_VTxBACQ

Alex Hamel