Tom Wall (guitarist)

Tom Wall is an American singer-songwriter, musician and activist from Grand Rapids, Michigan. Wall is known for being the lead singer, guitarist, and bandleader of the progressive rock band Cosmic Knot, and for his collaborations with Muruga Booker.

Tom Wall
Wall performing in December, 2016
Background information
BornMuskegon, Michigan, U.S.
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Musician
  • businessman
  • activist
Instruments
  • Guitar
  • vocals
  • bass
Years active2001–present
Associated acts
  • Cosmic Knot
  • Muruga Booker
  • Tony Thomas
  • Skee-town Stylee
  • Hannah Rose Graves & The GravesTones
  • The Muruga Band
  • Muruga, Tom and The Foreign Twoglets
  • Muruga Blues Band
  • Spacecraft
  • Muruga & The Microtones

Wall prefers to play in alternate tunings, such as Verdi tuning (A = 432 Hz) as opposed to the A440 (pitch standard)[1] in the hopes of promoting a healing and overall calming effect on listeners.[2][3][4]

Wall began playing guitar as a teenager, and was soon writing songs and performing in local bands. In 2013, he began playing with Hannah Rose Graves and the GravesTones.[5] In 2015 Wall played guitar on the Skee-Town Stylee album All You Want.[6]

In 2015, he formed the band Cosmic Knot and that same year they headlined at the annual Wish You Were Here festival in Fremont, Michigan, where he also jammed with P-Funk All Stars members Muruga Booker and Tony "Strat" Thomas.[7] Tom Wall and Cosmic Knot headlined the 2016 and 2017 Wish You Were Here festivals as well.[7]

Booker and Wall have collaborated on several musical projects together, including The Muruga Band "Mystic World",[8] which was nominated for a 2015 Detroit Music Award, and Muruga Blues Band "Fool's Blues",[9] which was nominated for a 2016 Detroit Music Award.[10]

In 2016 Wall also recorded a song with Muruga Booker and Grammy Award winning harmonica player Peter "Madcat" Ruth, written by and featuring his father Tom "T" Wall, called "Deer Camp",[11] and was also nominated for a Detroit Music Award.[10]

In 2016, Cosmic Knot recorded their debut album called Inner Space[12][13] at Third Coast Recording Studio,[14][4] in Grand Haven, Michigan.[15][16] Inner Space was released in August 2017, with all of the songs having been written by Wall. In 2017, even before their debut album was released, Cosmic Knot won the Best Song contest at Grand Haven's Walk the Beat festival[17] for their song "Like a Gypsy".[4]

At the 2017 Hash Bash in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Wall performed the Star Spangled Banner on guitar, to start the event, and afterwards Cosmic Knot performed a full set for over 10,000 people.[18][19]

Discography
  • 2015 – Skee-Town Stylee – All You Want[6]
  • 2015 – The Muruga Band – Mystic World[8]
  • 2016 – Muruga, Tom and The Foreign Twoglets – Pigdeeroo[20]
  • 2016 – Muruga Blues Band – Fool's Blues[9]
  • 2016 – T (Featuring Muruga & Madcat Ruth) – Deer Camp[11]
  • 2017 – Cosmic Knot – Inner Space[12]
  • 2017 – Spacecraft – Launch[21]
  • 2017 – Muruga & The Microtones – Spirit Jam[22]

References
  1. West Michigan’s Cosmic Knot untethers soothing ‘positivity’ with debut album on hollandsentinel.com
  2. West Michigan’s Cosmic Knot untethers lively ‘gypsycore’ music, touts soothing positivity with debut album by John Sinkevics July 19, 2017 on localspins.com
  3. Interview on Open Mic: Amy Andrews / Cosmic Knot WYCE's Open Mic, host Laura Nowe, 06/10/2016
  4. Mixtape: 2017’s “Under-the-Radar” albums from West Michigan bands By Stateside Staff & John Sinkevics – Dec 5, 2017 on michiganradio.org
  5. Hannah Rose Graves - 6 Groove or Die on youtube
  6. Stylee - All You Want on Bandcamp
  7. Wish You Were Here Music & Yoga Celebration website
  8. The Muruga Band - "Mystic World" on Bandcamp
  9. Muruga Blues Band "Fool's Blues" on Bandcamp
  10. Detroit Music Awards nominees at the DMA website
  11. T (Featuring Muruga & Madcat Ruth) "Deer Camp" on Bandcamp
  12. Cosmic Knot on bandcamp
  13. Cosmic Knot - Inner Space at KAMP student radio, Arizona
  14. Third Coast Recording Company website
  15. Third Coast Recording Company discography on thirdcoastrecording.com
  16. Michigan Album Reviews: Cosmic Knot, Deerfield Run, Desmond Jones, Wala Gum, Mid-Life Crisis, Willamena, FlyLiteGemini, Lapdogs review on Local Spins by John Sinkevics, October 19, 2017
  17. Cosmic Knot at the Walk The Beat website
  18. Tom Wall of Cosmic Knot plays national anthem at Hash Bash 2017 on youtube
  19. More than 10,000 attend Hash Bash, call for Michigan marijuana legalization (Updated Apr 3, 2017; Posted Apr 1, 2017) By Ryan Stanton on mlive.com
  20. Muruga, Tom and The Foreign Twoglets "Pigdeeroo" on Bandcamp
  21. Spacecraft "Launch" on Bandcamp
  22. Muruga & The Microtones "Spirit Jam" on Bandcamp
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