tom&co was the praise band for Vineville North Baptist Church in Macon, GA – now known as Northway Church. The band was together 1994-2006 with a remarkably stable group of members. They recorded two albums – Brethren, was recorded in 1999 at the historic Phoenix Studios (formerly known as Capricorn studios, where the Allman Brothers recorded several albums. Here’s a link plus some Pix of the studio). Seasons was their second album.
The band took familiar tunes and put a new musical twist to them – all in an accessibly creative way.
The band that recorded Seasons included Tom Rule on keys, Dan Wallace on bass, Dennis Palmer on percussion, and a changing cast of characters that includes Dr. Ed Clark on sax, Mark Holloway on guitar, and Phil Norris and Frank Jones on guitar. This stuff is HARDLY your typical church music!
Seasons was recorded June 27 /28 and July 26, 2003 at Heritage Recording Studios in Warner Robins. Mixing was done at the studios on August 8th, 11th, and September 1st and 2nd. Photography was by Steve Schroeder Photography. Graphic assistance by Ravonda Bargeron of Bargeron Designs and Michael Knapp of ImageInk. Food provided by Ruby Tuesday’s, al Jalisiene, Wendy’s, and Sonny’s BBQ, all of Warner Robins – though they really didn’t know what we were up to!
Tom and Dan were the last remaining members of tom&co to play at Northway – changes at the church necessitated a change in layout and nomenclature. Tom left Northway after 18 years as a staff member to become the choir accompanist and pianist for First Presbyterian church in 2012. Dan Wallace is still playing bass at Northway – and with the Joey Stuckey Band at times.
All tunes are in the public domain. All Arrangements are copyright 2003 Tom Rule (ASCAP).
Biblical References? What Biblical References?
There REALLY ARE some Biblical references on Season’s front cover, but you have to think like a punster to get them!
- The Star of Bethlehem and the Cross on the shakers (hand painted by Michael Knapp, by the way) should be fairly obvious!
- The salt and shakers refer to the “salt of the earth” phrase Jesus used when describing the affect his disciples should have
- The salt is present at Christmas, the salt is gone at Easter (as in Jesus’ arrival and departure)
- The dim reflection is a reference to the phrase “Now we see through a glass darkly, but then we’ll see face to face”.