Tom Doughty

There are moments on this album that the listener is struck by the almost physical beauty of Doughty’s guitar playing. He conjures unique curliques of sound that last moments and are then wafted away to leave a hole in the heart behind them - the opening notes of the album are a perfect example.
For those who need the prosaic basics, Tom Doughty plays acoustic slide blues, both lap and metal bodied. This is his first album for 5 years. He sings and plays with a soulful gentleness and never strains or aggresses..
There are a total of 13 tracks on 'Running Free’ and it is fair to say that none of them fails to hit the mark but there are 4 or 5 pieces on the album that will stick in the heart: His version of 'Eleanor Rigby’, an improvisation around the main theme, negates the need for words with the guitar eloquently taking the place of vocals; his arrangement of Cole Porter’s 'Ev’ry time we say goodbye’ is both familiar and original and achingly beautiful; 'Some these days’, Charlie Patten’s masterpiece, is light and airy, poetic and pure; 'Black Orpheus’ has faith to the Spanish original but there is a closeness and focus that obviates everything around the listener.
This was listened to on a PC, a CD Walkman, a decent car system and over £10,000 pounds worth of hi-fi and ever time the quality of the replay system improved it gave the listener a little more insight into one of the most listenable and enveloping albums of 2007.