BEST BET: TOM RUSSELL AND ANDREW HARDIN
By Barry
Gilbert
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
July 7, 2005
9 p.m. July 8, 2005, at Off Broadway, 3511 Lemp Avenue. $17 advance, $20 at the door. 314-773-3363 or www.offbroadwaystl.com.
Singer-songwriter Tom Russell
returns with guitarist Andrew Hardin to Off Broadway for the
second time in six months, riding the biggest winning streak of
his career. Russell has enjoyed positive reviews for his recent
CD, "Hotwalker," a tribute to the outsider poets,
writers and singers from his youth in '50s and '60s Los Angeles
and New York. The CD, which offers spoken rants to a bygone
America along with original music, has even triggered some
controversy with its mix of one fictional character among the
famous icons. In addition, Russell's first DVD, "Hearts on
the Line," has just been released, featuring interviews,
reminiscences and more than 15 performances from a Russell-Hardin
concert in Vancouver and a subsequent, intimate, "rolling
concert" train trip from Vancouver to Toronto. The DVD
features several new songs that have yet to appear on CD,
including the wonderful "Ash Wednesday, "Stealing
Electricity" and "It Goes Away," which already
have become welcome elements in Russell's live set.