Review: Tomaslav Goluban and Crooked Eye Tommy 'Nashville Road'

Review: Tomaslav Goluban and Crooked Eye Tommy ‘Nashville Road’

By Jim Hynes

Croatian harmonicist and vocalist Tomaslav Goluban seems to like Tennessee. His 2021 Express Connection was recorded in Memphis with some of city’s best blues musicians following his 2020 Memphis Light. This time Goluban heads three and half hours east on I-40 to record in Music City, collaborating with California guitarist and vocalist Crooked Eye Tommy Marsh for Nashville Road. “Little Pigeon” is the translation of the Croatian’s surname. Like a pigeon, he too can take flight. His partner in this session, Tommy Marsh, didn’t become a lead singer until his mid-forties and was a finalist in the 2020 IBC, representing the Santa Clara Blues Society. He has recorded two albums as a leader and performs about 100 shows annually in the states and in Europe.

Nashville Road is a relatively short album, clocking in under 35 minutes, but packed with plenty of power. Goluban wrote eight of the nine songs with Marsh (Crooked Eye Tommy) contributing to the closer, “There Is a Train.” The duo is backed by a tight band that included Eric Robert on keys, Jasco Duende on guitar for four tracks and the bass-drum tandem of Doug Seibert, and Alphonso Wesley. On that ninth track Bill Gilliam plays upright bass and Grady Clark plays slide guitar alongside Marsh’s lap steel and the ever-present Goluban harp.

The opener, “Hard Run,” is an instrumental kicked off with Goluban’s wailing harp before morphing into a blazing stomper featuring the twin guitars of Marsh and Duende. This band makes a convincing, loud arrival. “Rock Dog” is a hard driving boogie featuring the potent, weathered vocals on Marsh who sings on all but two of the remaining seven vocal tracks. The band locks in under Goluban’s unmistakable searing backdrop, coming together on the infectious chorus, “I may not be a rock star but I will be your rock dog.”

Pianist Robert goes barrelhouse of “Up Is Down,” the first of two vocals from the gravelly sounding Goluban singing lead. The braggadocio aspect, found so often in blues, is present here in the refrain “If you knock me down, I will get back up.” Tempo ratchets down for the simmering “Bad Choices Make Good Stories” where Marsh again takes the mic. This tune features some of Goluban’s best harp playing although to be fair, he is smoking throughout the nine tracks. “Hip Hop Shake” is a hard driving John Lee Hooker-like boogie, offering spots for each core band member to step forward with a a fiery solo.

“Hard Candy” is another blistering Marsh vocal with Goluban cupping his hands to produce that warbling harp sound which he carries into “Keep On Moving On,” his second vocal. The band shifts slightly as Robert takes to the B3. On “LIfe Is Good,” Marsh returns to the lead vocals. It’s a common blues shuffle with an uplifting message that urges us to cherish the present. The tune is a strong feature for both pianist Robert and Marsh’s prickly guitar. Marsh’s closer “There Is a Train” is a haunting tune imbued with his slicing lap steel. Its message reminds us that death indeed has no mercy, thematically very similar to Johnny Cash’s “The Man Comes Around – “If you were a rich you got more than your share…you know the conductor don’t care…can you hear the train call your name.”

Nashville Road is consistently potent record where Goluban made a wise choice having Crooked Eye Tommy, whose voice fits the blues so well, sing most of the material. Once again, for his part, Goluban demonstrates that he is among the best harpists in the genre.

“Up Is Down”