Tom Dundee
Encyclopedia
Tom Dundee was a singer/songwriter born in Chicago
, Illinois
, United States
.
He began his career in Corrales, New Mexico
in 1969. A year later he became a principal member of the Chicago folk scene
that spawned such performers as John Prine
, Steve Goodman
, Mick Scott, and Bonnie Koloc
. In the 1980s, Dundee performed throughout the Seattle Music Scene and in the 1990s recorded out of Nashville, Tennessee
.
Dundee is best-known for his song "A Delicate Balance." He composed over 300 songs, and recorded with such notables as Timothy B. Schmidt, Stephanie Davis, Rita Coolidge
and Paul Barrere
. He was a close friend and protege of Steve Goodman, who gave him the guitar on which he composed "The City of New Orleans." According to the Chicago Sun-Times
obituary of April 20, 2006, "At the time of his death, Mr. Dundee was a linchpin of the 1970s Chicago folk boom that produced John Prine, Steve Goodman, Bonnie Koloc and Jim Post
, who covered 'A Delicate Balance.'"
In concert, Dundee delighted in taking chances with his audience, letting the spontaneity of the moment shape the personality of his show every time out. He joked with his audience, drew them out of themselves with his music, and wove stories in and out of his songs. As a result, his shows, which typically included some of the oldest chestnuts imaginable as well as Dundee's own compositions, almost always felt fresh.
He died in the Chicago, Illinois neighborhood of Rogers Park on April 18, 2006, of injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident.
Tom Dundee, 59 – Chicago’s Own Troubadour of the Heart
Deep within there is a feeling
That love and understanding's the door,
And honesty is the key that was given to you and me
To open it and so many more. -- Tom Dundee, “A Delicate Balance”
CHICAGO TRIBUNE: Obituary by Nancy Emrich
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
Tom Dundee, 59 – Chicago’s Own Troubadour of the Heart
Deep within there is a feeling
That love and understanding's the door,
And honesty is the key that was given to you and me
To open it and so many more. -- Tom Dundee, “A Delicate Balance”
Tom Dundee would be the first to tell you he wasn’t a folk singer. (Though that will surprise his worldwide folk audiences.)
He was a singer songwriter.
Better yet he was Chicago’s truth teller. Never stridently, rarely loudly. He whispered the news of our lives that really mattered. It was musical poetry mixed with candor, astute humor, understating – always - his immense musical skill.
You won’t find a website for Tom Dundee. Maybe another line from his best known song “A Delicate Balance” covers the way Tom saw the world. “To worry does nothing but steals from the loving and robs from the pleasure that's there.”
And so he didn’t worry his career along. He let it unfold. A staple of the Chicago music scene since the 1960’s, his four decades performing built sustainable loyalty in his audiences. A private party gig in Montana grew into a nine year annual event.
A house concert in Wilmette became an annual festival. A single word placed carefully about the quality of a young singer sparked a band and a CD. A troupe of Chicagoans followed him at every local gig. The songs bore repetition well and his intelligence and curiosity fed his patter between songs. His songs spoke of friendship and he lived it.
A lifelong friend of Earl Pionke, “The Earl of Old Town,” Dundee was part of the core of singer songwriters who created the Old Town scene in Chicago in the 1970’s: Steve Goodman, John Prine, Fred Holstein, Michael Smith. The famous clubs of the time Holstein’s, Wise Fools and Somebody’s Else’s Troubles formed the backdrop for the music and humor and the life of the Chicago music community.
Tom Dundee knew how to connect the dots. Someone here, someone there, a dash of Dundee and things began to happen. His caring for his audiences enfolded them early in the evening and then, carried by his guitar, songs, stories and humor, the audience would leave wanting more.
His gossamer songwriting touch and master musicianship built him a career touring nationally, and in Europe. He lived and worked variously in New Mexico, California, Nevada, Washington State. His twang and country music lilt developed while he was in Nashville where he eventually recorded his self-named CD and Lyfe Tyme Arhyme both produced by Mark Elliott for Flyte Records.
But he was Chicago born and bred, returning here after every loop of adventure and performances. In recent years Tom was a touring member of the Weavers tribute group “Weavermania.” Where he worked with Michael Smith, Barbara Barrow, Mark Dvorak, Chris Walz and others.
When he was off stage, Dundee’s quiet attention to detail often placed him in the seat behind the sound board helping friends sound better or sometimes he would use his carpentering skills to build a speaker rack in a venue or a client’s deck. He’d turn up unexpectedly to ask a question and stay to solve a problem that interested him. All the while his records quietly sold, his songs inspired public sculpture, his tunes played on elevators across the world.
Dundee’s most recent project was the show called “Somebody Else’s Troubles,” a showcase of the established musicians from Jim Craig, Kat Eggleston, Corky Seigel and James Lee Stanley blended with newer talent that he thought deserved attention like Donna Adler and Gabrielle Schafer. This show was presented in various venues like the Folk Series at Bill’s Blues in Evanston and Lilly’s on Lincoln over the past three years.
But it all stopped last weekend after a motorcycle accident early Saturday morning and Dundee’s death April 18th from resulting complications. A musical memorial tribute evening is planned on a date to be announced. He is survived by his partner Rhonda Perkins and several cousins.
Copyright Chicago Tribune
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
He began his career in Corrales, New Mexico
Corrales, New Mexico
Corrales is a village in Sandoval County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 8,329 at the 2010 Census. It is part of the Albuquerque Metropolitan Statistical Area. With proximity to the Rio Grande, the village was founded for agricultural purposes. The Rio Grande Bosque on the eastern...
in 1969. A year later he became a principal member of the Chicago folk scene
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
that spawned such performers as John Prine
John Prine
John Prine is an American country/folk singer-songwriter. He has been active as a recording artist and live performer since the early 1970s.-Biography:...
, Steve Goodman
Steve Goodman
Steve Goodman was an American folk music singer-songwriter from Chicago, Illinois. The writer of "City of New Orleans", made popular by Arlo Guthrie, Goodman won two Grammy Awards.-Personal life:...
, Mick Scott, and Bonnie Koloc
Bonnie Koloc
Bonnie Koloc is an American folk music singer-songwriter, actress, and artist who was considered one of the three main Illinois-based folk singers in the 1970s, along with Steve Goodman and John Prine forming the "trinity of the Chicago folk scene."...
. In the 1980s, Dundee performed throughout the Seattle Music Scene and in the 1990s recorded out of Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
.
Dundee is best-known for his song "A Delicate Balance." He composed over 300 songs, and recorded with such notables as Timothy B. Schmidt, Stephanie Davis, Rita Coolidge
Rita Coolidge
Rita Coolidge is a multiple Grammy Award-winning American vocalist. During the 1970s and 1980s, she charted hits on Billboard's Pop, Country, Adult Contemporary and Jazz charts.-Career:...
and Paul Barrere
Paul Barrere
Paul Barrere is a current member of the band Little Feat, having joined the band in 1974...
. He was a close friend and protege of Steve Goodman, who gave him the guitar on which he composed "The City of New Orleans." According to the Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
obituary of April 20, 2006, "At the time of his death, Mr. Dundee was a linchpin of the 1970s Chicago folk boom that produced John Prine, Steve Goodman, Bonnie Koloc and Jim Post
Jim Post
Jim Post is an American folk singer-songwriter, composer, playwright and actor. In 1968 his pop song "Reach out of the Darkness" charted on the Billboard Hot 100 for 14 weeks, peaking at number 10.-History:...
, who covered 'A Delicate Balance.'"
In concert, Dundee delighted in taking chances with his audience, letting the spontaneity of the moment shape the personality of his show every time out. He joked with his audience, drew them out of themselves with his music, and wove stories in and out of his songs. As a result, his shows, which typically included some of the oldest chestnuts imaginable as well as Dundee's own compositions, almost always felt fresh.
He died in the Chicago, Illinois neighborhood of Rogers Park on April 18, 2006, of injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident.
Discography
Tom Dundee released six albums during his life:- A Delicate Balance
- Right Lane Man
- Roadmap
- Rough Around the Edge
- Lyfe Tyme Arhyme
- Tom Dundee
Tom Dundee, 59 – Chicago’s Own Troubadour of the Heart
Deep within there is a feeling
That love and understanding's the door,
And honesty is the key that was given to you and me
To open it and so many more. -- Tom Dundee, “A Delicate Balance”
CHICAGO TRIBUNE: Obituary by Nancy Emrich
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
Tom Dundee, 59 – Chicago’s Own Troubadour of the Heart
Deep within there is a feeling
That love and understanding's the door,
And honesty is the key that was given to you and me
To open it and so many more. -- Tom Dundee, “A Delicate Balance”
Tom Dundee would be the first to tell you he wasn’t a folk singer. (Though that will surprise his worldwide folk audiences.)
He was a singer songwriter.
Better yet he was Chicago’s truth teller. Never stridently, rarely loudly. He whispered the news of our lives that really mattered. It was musical poetry mixed with candor, astute humor, understating – always - his immense musical skill.
You won’t find a website for Tom Dundee. Maybe another line from his best known song “A Delicate Balance” covers the way Tom saw the world. “To worry does nothing but steals from the loving and robs from the pleasure that's there.”
And so he didn’t worry his career along. He let it unfold. A staple of the Chicago music scene since the 1960’s, his four decades performing built sustainable loyalty in his audiences. A private party gig in Montana grew into a nine year annual event.
A house concert in Wilmette became an annual festival. A single word placed carefully about the quality of a young singer sparked a band and a CD. A troupe of Chicagoans followed him at every local gig. The songs bore repetition well and his intelligence and curiosity fed his patter between songs. His songs spoke of friendship and he lived it.
A lifelong friend of Earl Pionke, “The Earl of Old Town,” Dundee was part of the core of singer songwriters who created the Old Town scene in Chicago in the 1970’s: Steve Goodman, John Prine, Fred Holstein, Michael Smith. The famous clubs of the time Holstein’s, Wise Fools and Somebody’s Else’s Troubles formed the backdrop for the music and humor and the life of the Chicago music community.
Tom Dundee knew how to connect the dots. Someone here, someone there, a dash of Dundee and things began to happen. His caring for his audiences enfolded them early in the evening and then, carried by his guitar, songs, stories and humor, the audience would leave wanting more.
His gossamer songwriting touch and master musicianship built him a career touring nationally, and in Europe. He lived and worked variously in New Mexico, California, Nevada, Washington State. His twang and country music lilt developed while he was in Nashville where he eventually recorded his self-named CD and Lyfe Tyme Arhyme both produced by Mark Elliott for Flyte Records.
But he was Chicago born and bred, returning here after every loop of adventure and performances. In recent years Tom was a touring member of the Weavers tribute group “Weavermania.” Where he worked with Michael Smith, Barbara Barrow, Mark Dvorak, Chris Walz and others.
When he was off stage, Dundee’s quiet attention to detail often placed him in the seat behind the sound board helping friends sound better or sometimes he would use his carpentering skills to build a speaker rack in a venue or a client’s deck. He’d turn up unexpectedly to ask a question and stay to solve a problem that interested him. All the while his records quietly sold, his songs inspired public sculpture, his tunes played on elevators across the world.
Dundee’s most recent project was the show called “Somebody Else’s Troubles,” a showcase of the established musicians from Jim Craig, Kat Eggleston, Corky Seigel and James Lee Stanley blended with newer talent that he thought deserved attention like Donna Adler and Gabrielle Schafer. This show was presented in various venues like the Folk Series at Bill’s Blues in Evanston and Lilly’s on Lincoln over the past three years.
But it all stopped last weekend after a motorcycle accident early Saturday morning and Dundee’s death April 18th from resulting complications. A musical memorial tribute evening is planned on a date to be announced. He is survived by his partner Rhonda Perkins and several cousins.
Copyright Chicago Tribune
photo by friend Tony Beazley