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Tom Ball is a reputable, committed six-stringer from Santa Barbara, California (USA) who reveals his style as steel string fingerstyle acoustic, as one can clearly experience on his latest album, "18 Pieces For Solo Steel String Guitar".  His favorite guitar is a 1936 Gibson flat-top. Ball has played guitar since 1961, and candidly acknowledges his career aspiration, "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 reveal his ultimate effect for the guitar, Ball answered back with, "A touch of reverb," and then brought up his musicial goals, "The innate beauty of sound that a steel string guitar is capable of
producing. The evocative capabilities of the instrument." He hopes to one day study film scoring with Ennio Morricone, Ry Cooder and Bill Whelan, and is at this time listening to Leo Brouwer, Kate Rusby, Blind Blake, Tim O'Brien and Marco Tamayo. His primary fulfillment? "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 affirms conclusively.
Ball concludes by mentioning continuing and future undertakings succinctly, 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.
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Vol. 17, No. 2: Feb.-Mar. 2012
