Description
(The Long Hot Somervilles are a side project of the Burning Bridges. )
The Long Hot Somervilles star up and coming young fiddler Tom Somerville, who is fast gaining a reputation in Melbourne as a fine American Old Time fiddler.
He leads sessions in town and is teaching fiddle at festivals next year.
He first starting playing guitar as 7 years old and was soon performing with the family band The Burning Bridges. He took up mandolin a couple of years later and then started learning violin at 12. He took lessons from Kat Mear as well as classical lessons at school. In 2024 he received a scholarship to attend Old Time Music week at Swannanoa North Carolina and learnt old time tunes from some of the finest.
His father on banjo and guitar is Peter Somerville, a long time banjo player in Melbourne and has toured and recorded with Paul Kelly, Renee Geyer, Greg Champion and many others, and has toured nationally as well as USA, Japan, China, Singapore. He has also been teaching banjo in Melbourne for many years.
Craig Woodward is a renowned multi instrumentalist and exponent of old time music and shares guitar and banjo duties with Peter on this album.
Maxine Sutcliffe is an in demand bass player in Melbourne and plays in the Humbuckin Pickups and Front Porch Bluegrass band.
Tom’s mum and member of The Burning Bridges wrote the only song on the album ‘’Weary Bird” and sings lead vocal.
The album has 15 lesser known traditional tunes, 3 originals by Tom, one by Peter and Fran sings her composition.
