Tom Ball is a spirited and seasoned musician/guitarist currently based in Santa Barbara, California (USA) who denotes his playing style as steel string fingerstyle acoustic, as a music fan can hear on his most recent recording, "18 Pieces For Solo Steel String Guitar".  His workhorse guitar is a 1936 Gibson flat-top. Ball has been playing guitar since 1961, and unreservedly relates his career objective, "I plan to have another guitar CD or two out, in addition to another book or two. Also I plan to continue to work as a harmonica player with Kenny Sultan and others. Studio opportunities seem to picking up, and I love to tour, especially overseas."
When requested to let slip his top choice for an effect for the guitar, Ball resolutely answered, "A touch of reverb," and then outlined his musicial goals, "The innate beauty of sound that a steel string guitar is capable of
producing. The evocative capabilities of the instrument." He maintains a desire to, at some point, study film scoring with Ennio Morricone, Ry Cooder and Bill Whelan, and is at the moment listening to Leo Brouwer, Kate Rusby, Blind Blake, Tim O'Brien and Marco Tamayo. His most important gratification? "Recording sessions that feature stylistically challenging material - for example, material completely outside my own comfort zone. The best feeling I know is to survive and contribute to a project that challenges one's ability to musically adapt," he muses without hesitation.
 Ball winds up by mentioning long-term and forthcoming endeavors insightfully, by saying, "A solo guitar CD of famous film music is in the planning stages. A harmonica book on the two Sonnyboy Williamsons is about half done, and I'm in the process of wrapping up my second novel (tentatively titled "Backstraw.") Kenny Sultan and I continue to tour, and I'm spending an hour or so a day learning the bass harmonica. Life is good!"
Guitar Nine Records visitors have compared the playing style and/or musical approach of Tom Ball to guitarists such as Ry Cooder and others.
Ball's discography (available here at Guitar Nine Records) includes several solo albums ("18 Pieces For Solo Steel String Guitar", "Solo Guitar - Music From Films").
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