Tom Wurth’s IF THE ROAD RUNS OUT—
A Semi-Autobiographical Testament To Life Challenges And The Power of Music
Tom Wurth is lucky to be alive. And he knows it.
Ever since his first major car accident as a teenager, Wurth has been a grateful being of the world. With multiple brushes with death during his life and music being the love of his life--coursing through his veins, Tom Wurth is impassioned by creating his own music and sharing the wondrous joys of everyday ‘living’ with his hungry audiences.
A farm boy who hails from the small town of Marcus, IA, Tom Wurth has known he was destined to make music from a very early age. Raised by schoolteacher parents in a pastoral community, Wurth first began playing guitar as a result of an Iowa snow day. Being a precocious 6 year-old, as soon as Wurth’s father taught him several chords, he was hooked; he knew he was meant to make music.
“Dad taught me one chord and said, ‘now go and practice,’ and practice I did—for about twenty minutes.” Wurth revealed. “I returned to the kitchen to tell him I was ready to learn more. I think he meant for me to be at it at least a week!”
As Wurth grew up he began to write for friends and family. Honing his craft, his first public performance was for his 4th grade class. A schoolmate, who was moving, was dedicated with the first Tom Wurth penned original, “Chad, We Don’t Want You To Go.”
After his elementary forays into pop and rock, Wurth delved deep into the country music genre with artists like Joe Diffie and Vince Gill leading him down the country road–a saturation he affectionately refers to as “nerding out” to country music.
Just as soon as Tom Wurth took off the cap and gown after high school graduation in Marcus, he set his sights for Music City.
“Where I’m from there are no dance halls or honky tonks, so a ‘career’ in music was unheard of. While everyone else was planning to go to Ag school or Tech school, my head and heart was in the music.” Tom headed to Nashville to enroll at Belmont University and begin his career in the music business. Positive he had made the absolute right decision in moving to Tennessee, just 24 hours after orientation at Belmont U, Tom was in a near fatal car crash that nearly left him paralyzed.
“I remember the nurse telling me not to move or I would be paralyzed. I spent the first three days in a striker bed and they’d come in and rotate me like a chicken on a rotisserie.” Able to lighten the tone when he recalls the event, Wurth was close to full paralysis from a broken back he sustained in the wreck. Tom Wurth spent more than two months in bed healing, recuperating and strengthening his resolve to spend his life making music.
After multiple weeks of rehabilitation, Wurth returned to Belmont University in a “turtle shell” back brace; he moved onward to continue his recovery and education. Four years later, Tom Wurth graduated (in the same class as Brad Paisley) with a degree, two publishing deals and a Grammy nomination.
Tom Wurth officially entered the work force in the music industry as a mail clerk at Aaron Brown Publishing and being at the right place, at the right time, led him to chance of a lifetime. Tom was tapped to perform the lead vocals on Aaron Brown’s children’s project entitled LOVE SONGS AND LULLABYES FOR DADDY’S LITTLE DREAMER (Aaron Brown Publishing) after Brown caught a glimpse of Wurth’s set at a songwriter’s showcase downtown.
“I landed a recording gig when Aaron Brown showed up a writer’s night where I was playing. The next day, he asked if I would cut some demo’s for his publishing company and then he asked me to lay a few things down for a lullaby project.”
LOVE SONGS AND LULLABYES FOR DADDY’S LITTLE DREAMER earned Wurth and his collaborators a Grammy nomination for Best Musical Album for Children in 1996. Wurth was able to attend the ceremony and the irony of his good fortune did not escape him while sitting among the industry’s biggest stars.
“It was the first time the Grammy Awards show was held in Madison Square Garden. I remember sitting in the audience with the other nominees in the category; Alison Krauss was sitting right behind me; I was thinking ‘I’m the only guy here nominated making $6.00 an hour in a mailroom.’”
Wurth returned from the ceremonies in the Big Apple and has since spent his time in Nashville recording and writing as a ASCAP affiliate songwriter and member of BMG Music Publishing. Over his more than ten years on Music Row, Tom has written with a long list of accomplished songwriters including Bart Butler, John Ford Coley, Ken Mellons and John Jarrard. He’s taken his live show on the road to perform alongside mentor John Ford Coley, Ronnie Milsap, friends Ken Mellons and Vince Gill, and he’s opened for Jimmy Wayne. Working from behind the board, he just completed producing special projects for Eddie Money and John Ford Coley.
His latest project, IF THE ROAD RUNS OUT, features his most autobiographical co-write to date, “I Almost Died Today.” The song is an intimate soliloquy for Wurth, a man who escaped death in an auto accident for the third time in his life. After a late night writing session in Nashville, Wurth drove home to Spring Hill, Tennessee and a tractor-trailer truck clipped his wheel. The accident happened within seconds and, with the assistance of OnStar, help arrived quickly. Despite his many blessings, Tom Wurth was again faced head on with his mortality and chose to continue of his lyric journey.
Tom Wurth moves his fate forward with his latest release, IF THE ROAD RUNS OUT, a remastered album with two new tracks co-written by Wurth. The album will be released by Echelon Records in early September. Mike Dinwiddie, Spring Hill, Tennessee Mayor heads up the independent label with an impassioned and intense belief in Tom and his music.
“Tom Wurth is an incredible songwriter and performer who is committed to the democratic root of country music.” Dinwiddie states. “He has an impeccable ability to connect to the very core of the human condition, the common thread.”
Wurth goes on to say that his music, though extremely relatable, also reveals who he is as a man and an artist. From heartbreak to happy endings, the songs represent Tom Wurth’s true sensibilities. Tom’s “salt of the earth” character is transparent in his music and the Iowa bred man unveils crystal clear truthfulness on all 10 tracks.
“If you really want to know who I am, just listen to the record. Every song has reflections of some point in my life. Life is not one-dimensional; neither is this record.”
Tom Wurth is a man who is committed to connecting with his audience; IF THE ROAD RUNS OUT continues in that very same vein.
With so much to be thankful for, Wurth’s verve for life and his music maps out his direction--where all roads lead to his destiny--making music of a lifetime and “living” every minute of it!
|
|
