Tom & The Clementynes

Tom & The Clementynes are playing Qudos on Friday 7 November, with a set of classic and modern rock and pop covers. It's a familiar name around here, but there's a bit of history behind it that's worth knowing if you haven't caught them before.

Tom & The Clementynes is the stage name of Tom, a Salisbury musician who quit his day job in 2011 and has been on the road ever since. He's played more than 1,000 gigs, released three EPs and two albums, and built a reputation as a master of the loop pedal. That's a good way to frame the sound: he's a singer-songwriter who uses loops to build out his songs live, rather than just strumming a guitar. During the 2020 lockdown he put out the EP Three Chords and Four Walls, and his influences run from Mark Knopfler and Lindsay Buckingham to Noel Gallagher, Seth Lakeman and Paul Weller — a broad reach that covers a lot of ground.

For this show, he's playing as a professional functions trio, joined by one of his longest friends, Owen Kent, on bass and backing vocals, and Adam Colwell on drums and backing vocals. The set is built around covers, so you'll hear a mix of rock and pop from different eras rather than his own original material. It's the kind of night that works as well for a casual drink as it does for anyone who just wants to hear a few familiar songs played live.

On the local front, Tom has been a regular in the area for years. He reached the quarter-finals of the Dorset Music Awards in 2012, finished as runner-up at the Salisbury Music Awards in 2012 and 2014, and was a semi-finalist in 'Bournemouth unplugged' 2012. He's also appeared on BBC Wiltshire's Live Lounge and featured on BBC Introducing Solent, and has opened for The Wurzels, Larkin Poe, Mark Chadwick of The Levellers and Toploader. You'll find them at Qudos, 38 Castle Street, Salisbury, SP1 1BN, on Friday 7 November.