Crooked Eye Tommy Solo/Duo

Crooked Eye Tommy is the Nashville-based project of Tommy Marsh, a guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter whose work sits deep in the blues and roots tradition. Born and raised in California’s Central Valley, Marsh grew up in a musical household and played guitar for years before stepping into the lead-vocal role in his mid-40s. What began as a practical necessity became a calling: a voice that carries the weight of lived experience and songs built around honest storytelling rather than volume or flash. The band’s acoustic side strips the music down to its core—voice, acoustic guitar, and the interplay of original material with the blues, soul, and American roots traditions that have always been its foundation. In these settings the songs breathe differently. The groove is still there, but it arrives through feel, dynamics, and phrasing instead of electric intensity. Listeners hear the same writer who has released Butterflies & Snakes (2015), Hot Coffee and Pain (2020), and the 2025 collaboration Nashville Road with Croatian harmonica master Tomislav Goluban—now framed for rooms that reward intimacy and song craft. Marsh’s songwriting draws on personal history, Southern imagery, and the long conversation between blues and American folk forms. Tracks such as “There Is a Train,” “Hot Coffee and Pain,” and material from the forthcoming Cock of the Walk album translate naturally to acoustic arrangements, where the narrative and vocal delivery take center stage. The Nashville Road project, built around Goluban’s harmonica and Marsh’s guitar and voice, already demonstrated how well the material sits in a more roots-oriented setting; acoustic performances simply carry that approach further. Recognition has followed the work. Crooked Eye Tommy was a Finalist at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, received a Hollywood Music in Media Award, and earned Group of the Year at the Josie Music Awards at the Grand Ole Opry House, along with multiple Ventura County Music Awards honors including Hall of Fame induction. These acknowledgments sit alongside a steady touring schedule of roughly 100 dates a year across the United States and Europe. Marsh also produces the Crooked Eye Blues Fest in Tennessee and the Ojai Blues Fest in California, giving him a practical understanding of what works in live rooms of every size.