100 Bands in 100 Days Presented by Verity Credit Union — Day 98: Tom Esch
Please check out Verity Credit Union, our great partner in the 100 Bands in 100 Days local music showcase.
Music fans of the Pacific Northwest, get ready for our fifth annual year-end daily local music showcase, 100 Bands in 100 Days, where every day until December 31st, we’re showcasing a new band or artist you have to know about, once again presented by Verity Credit Union.
Make sure you are checking the #100Bands100Days hashtag on Twitter on a daily basis to stay on top of all the bands featured and be sure to follow Verity and NW_Music_Scene there. Some days the featured act could be an established and locally-adored northwest-based musician and other times they could be a band with a small following that just hasn’t had their deserved time in the spotlight yet. Either way, we’re fairly confident you can come away from this daily segment with plenty of new favorites. Today’s featured artist is Tom Esch.
Bio:
This debut EP features songwriting reminiscent of my former project, Attack With Care, but also branches out to reveal the broader extent of my songwriting. Based in Seattle, and a child of the pacific northwest music scene of the 90s, I blend the fuzzy-distorted guitars of Nirvana and Smashing Pumpkins with the pop sensibilities of The Beatles and the singer/songwriter vulnerability of Elliott Smith and Fiona Apple. Opening with a hopeful melody, “All We Need” presents an anthem to cooperation followed up by “I Just Can’t Believe It’s True,” a release of exasperation in its cathartic chorus and grunge guitar tones. Anxiety is whisked away by the Kinks-like churn of “What’s the Matter,” only to sublimate into the love expressed in “If You Must Know.” The latter third to this introductory experience concludes with “Let It Ride,” a salute to youthful exuberance and “Word Got Out,” a reminder to my future self to be vigilant in pursuit of mental, physical and metaphysical well-being. For the die-hard fan, check out my Soundcloud account for recordings dating back to 2002!
A quick listen to today’s featured artist reveals a songwriter with a lot of tricks up his sleeve. As he alludes to in his bio, he’s obviously heavily influenced by the music of the 90s and that’s not a bad thing at all since he’s not trying to be the next Nirvana. Rather, his well-crafted tunes live in their own world. The first song off the The Modern Devices EP is built around an anthemic chorus as he belts out “all we need is us” with some sneaky good guitar work going on to add to the intensity of the track. The next song, “I Just Can’t Believe It’s True” sort of melds modern day indie with alt rock of old for another great listen. We’ll admit to not knowing much about Tom Esch before this year’s 100 Bands campaign, just so many bands around here and as shocking as it sounds, we just can’t know them all! That said, he’s one we’ll be adding to the list of bands to look out for in the next year. You can check out his back catalog on Soundcloud HERE and listen to his The Modern Devices EP on Bandcamp HERE.
Listen:
Find the band at:
To view all of the wonderful northwest artists we have featured this year, click HERE.
A huge shoutout to Verity Credit Union for doing so much for the music community and for being such a great partner.
