Opening for Los Lobos and moving into the future.

Summer is finally here! It has always been my favorite time of the year. Even with a crazy schedule, there is not one day I wish I was soaking my toes in the Malibu beach. I am extremely thankful for everything that has been happening for me in the past 6 months. First of all, I am so grateful for all the support I’ve been getting on the release of my video for my song “Tell Me”. The response has been overwhelming. In just 3 months we’ve been able to reach almost 3,000 hits! That’s almost 1,000 hits a month. That might not seem like much, but for an independent artist like myself without a major push and advertising from a huge record label, I am extremely proud. Once again, I’d like to thank everyone who contributed and made this video so special. In between a touring schedule we took some time to shoot another video, this one for the title track of my album Keep on Movin’. We shot this one in my hometown of El Paso Texas. We were very fortunate to shoot this video at St. Anthony’s Seminary. Being a very personal and motivational song we couldn’t have been blessed with a better location. We’re releasing the video at my “official” CD release party in Oct.
Out of all the gigs I have done this year, the one that was the most exciting for me was when we got invited to be the supporting act for Los Lobos. I hadn’t performed in El Paso since last October and so to come home and perform in front of 8,000 people was a special homecoming. I have been a huge fan of Los Lobos since I was a kid and even luckier to become friends with David Hidalgo once I moved to LA, so being on the same bill with those guys was really special. The played a great show as always and it was definitely a night to remember. I have included highlights from the Los Lobos concert below. I want to thank Jaime Blanco and his staff at DoubleScope films. They were responsible for shooting the event and did an amazing job. DoubleScope films was also generous enough to feature me on 2 episodes for “Under the Frequency”, an online music show that interviews and spotlights local and national bands on the move. The show is targeted for music lovers around the world so make sure and check them out! (http://www.DoubleScopefilms.com)
As far as plans for the future go, we are already planning a Texas tour starting in Sept. We are playing all the major cities including San Antonio, Dallas. Houston, Corpus Christi and of course, Austin. Be sure and add my Facebook Fan page for details. Once all of that is out of the way, I’m heading into the studio to work on the next record. I’ve written about 16 new songs for this album and the initial demos already sound fantastic! I’m really excited to get started on the new tracks, I know the fans will really like the new direction by music is heading. The preliminary title of the album is called “Let it Shine” and will include plenty of rockin’ tunes along with some slow jams, funky grooves and a heavy dose of Chicano Soul! As always I’d like to thank everyone to writes to me on my blogger, facebook and twitter sites. It is your support that keeps me moving and groovin’. Hope to see ya’ll at the shows. Always remember that the greatest thing we can do as human beings is to love one another. Keep smiling, keep dreaming and Keep on Movin’. Thanks for reading!

As we welcome a new decade

First of all, I want to wish everyone a Happy New Year! May everyone find the comfort and success you want and deserve. As for me, I plan to work as hard as ever in 2011. It has been a while since my last blog so I apologize for that. I plan to write this year at least twice a month to keep everyone up to date with my silly adventures. Last year was such a productive year with the release of my album and now it’s even more of a challenge to go out and promote it! This year has already started on a good note. I’m scheduled to perform at this year’s SXSW festival in Austin which I am absolutely excited about. Austin is always such a great city to perform. I’m looking forward to visiting again. We are also planning a tour of Texas, CA and some east coast shows this year. We’re hearing that the album is making a buzz among blues lovers in Japan so that is exciting as well.
I have also started a new project, an idea that had been fiddling round my head for a while now. I have taken 8 of my songs and re-arranged them in a Mexican folklore style. We’re keeping it very traditional simply vihuela, guitarron, Mexican harp, voice and nylon guitar. No electric instruments at all. The songs will be in Spanish and English and the arrangements sound amazing! I am a big fan of Jarocho music from Veracruz as well as Mariachi music and to hear my songs done that way is really special. Look out very soon for a DVD of us performing those songs live in the studio.
I would also like to add that we have just shot two new videos in support of “Keep on Movin’. The first one we did here in Los Angeles and it’s for the song “Tell Me”. It’s a simple little song that I wrote with a very classic feel to it. Almost like my version of a classic oldie. Fans really love this song so I shot this for them. The other was for “Keep on Movin” the title track of my album. We were very blessed to have been allowed to shoot this video in a monastery in El Paso. Being an inspirational song, we couldn’t have found a better location. Look out very soon on my youtube channel for the release of these two videos.
So as this year begins, so do the new challenges. Let’s focus on accomplishing unfinished business. No need to get there as fast as we can, but rather enjoy our journey there. The best part of life is living it! Because once all is said and done, the only thing we can look back and enjoy is how we got there. Acceptance is the key to happiness. Let yourself be free from the negativity that surrounds you and soon positive energy will follow. No need to waste time with pointless matters. Convey yourself with a greater sense of natural intensity that is satisfying to the mind and soul rather than imposter with the physicality of things. Status and beauty is only a man made condition which feeds the egotistical mind of the afflicted. As I have gotten older, I have learned that being a person with great faith overcomes those with great power. Like that midget whose faith over weighed the sad giant who claimed to be king of the village. Believe in yourself! Be strong, take your life as far as you can take it, Love everyone and Keep On Movin’. See you soon.

Thanks for reading!

My Abbey Road Experience

It was the year of 2007 when I made my first trip to London. At the time I was working as a monitor engineer for “mega-superstar” Jennifer Lopez. We were doing one off’s all over the world; New York, Dubai, Los Angeles, Spain, & Maldives. But nothing was as thrilling as the day I got my flight itinerary for this London gig. It turns out, a Russian millionaire by the name of Andrei Melnichenko was planning a surprise party for his wife and since both of them were big fans of Jennifer, it was Andrei’s idea to have her do a private performance for his wife and the small invited guests of about 20 people in his living room! Reports indicate that Andrei paid her 1 million dollars for a 40 min. set. I know, for a fact, he paid her much more and our set was only 30 min. We rehearsed for two days in Los Angeles, as we had to scale down our production. I mean, we had never performed in someone’s living room for christ’s sake!! There was a lot of preparation but in the end we managed to cram 4 dancers, 2 audio engineers (myself included), her manager, Marc, and Jennifer in a small private plane. So, if that wasn’t thrilling enough, my real excitement was that we were arriving a day early and actually had a whole day off in London. Imagine that! I was getting paid to visit my dream city of London, England.
Ever since I was a kid, I have been the biggest Beatles fan! I can’t explain how much their music has been a part of my life. So much that growing up in the 80’s, I was the only kid in El Paso with a moptop hairdo and Beatle boots Jaajaja. It was at that young age that I knew because of them that I wanted to be a musician. I always perceived the Brit’s as very unique and interesting people. I was (and still am) a huge fan of Monty Python’s Flying Circus with their witty humor and off the wall imagination. The "Murder on the Orient Express", series of Agatha Christie and Hercule Poirot was so mysterious to me, and of course all of the British groups that had invaded the US during the early 60’s. I never imagined as a kid that I would ever get to visit this great country of Beatleland! Having said that I knew exactly what I wanted to do as soon as I landed at Heathrow Airport, visit Abbey Road! This is the recording studio where the The Beatles had recorded all of their music. Soon after checking into my hotel, I went down to the concierge, picked up a map of the city and began my adventure. Instead of taking a cab to take me straight there, I decided to take the subway or “tube” as they call it in England. I hopped on the Piccadilly Line and headed to the district of St. John’s Wood where Abbey Road is located.
Upon arriving, I was shocked that this great studio was located in a typical neighborhood. It actually looked more like a large house instead of a landmark. Nevertheless, the excitement was overwhelming; I couldn’t believe that I was actually standing in front of this building where the greatest music was ever created. Lucky for me a session was about to start and orchestra members started crowding into the front door of the studio. I was determined to make it inside! I quickly hurdled myself among the crowd of orchestra members and made my way thru security inside the studio as if I was one of them. If you can only imagine how I was feeling at that point! As I wondered thru the halls of Abbey Road I couldn’t help but get a little emotional as I peeped into studio 2 (the original studio where their first songs were recorded). As I stared, I started to imagine the young beatles at work. Not as superstars rather as kids recording their first record. Four lads from Liverpool in white T-shirts and skinny ties unaware of the legacy they were about to become. It was there that I had a beautiful recollection that anything is possible if you BELIEVE. These 4 lads had done it coming from very humble beginnings. They had worked very hard, believed in themselves (when not many people did) their dream had come true and SO HAD MINE! Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine growing up that someday I would get the opportunity to visit this amazing place and look through the same glass windows where John Lennon once sat!! What?? No way! So it doesn’t matter if you’re a kid from El Paso, Liverpool or anywhere else in the universe. What I learned is that we must persevere, believe in ourselves and trust our God because dreams DO come true. I know God listens!

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Tommy Mora at Abbey Road Studios London, England UK

Keep On Movin' Album Review

Tommy Mora is to Los Angeles what taco stands and palm trees are—a part of the landscape that everyone takes for granted, but doesn’t always appreciate. That will change with the long-anticipated release of his debut CD “Keep on Movin’.” Tommy proves that classic rock is not just an “oldies” genre. The timelessness of music with a 60’s-70’s feel can be fresh and contemporary if put in the right hands. That is why this CD, co-produced by AJ Vallejo, sparkles from beginning to end.

Back in 1970, Jimi Hendrix gave the world a new anthem for a hopeful new decade called “Freedom.” In 2010, Tommy Mora pulls us 40 years forward with an update in his own words and musical style of “Freedom” that reinforces the message sent from this missed guitar god. Somewhere, Jimi is smiling.

In “Misery,” only Tommy Mora would combine the best of the Rolling Stones and Bob Seger in a musical soup, delivered from the visceral vocal perspective of a clear-eyed Ozzy Osbourne. A true aural bomb blast with Tommy banging it out.

The title song “Keep On Movin” harkens back to the many classic late 60’s-early 70’s songs from seminal New York band The Rascals. This track is a tribute to his Mother, who recently passed away. But through the pathos, the message is to push forward, and Tommy Mora provides the listener a way to move from grief to “grooving on a Sunday afternoon.”

“You Got Me Running’” (the favorite among Tommy’s fans in his live set) chugs and bounces as if some 70’s groupie had a bastard child fathered by sperm from Free, T-Rex, Bad Company and the Sweet. Quite a pedigree to deliver you to rock nirvana for the new century, but this is no illegitimate child, rather an update of how good rock can feel.

While Tommy’s material always rocks out, there is an underlying nod to the funk and Chicano soul popularized in the ‘70’s by Carlos Santana and Tower of Power. Even rockers supreme Led Zeppelin dabbled in funk with songs like “Trampled Under Foot.” Tommy’s Carlitos-Zep fusion boogies in that Chicano-funk vein on “Going Down To The Border.” Dance floor time, gentes!

Parents and relatives have probably told you stories about Huggy Boy and Art Laboe and El Monte Legion Stadium from the 60’s. Tommy takes the corazón from that period and skyrockets it to the present. Doo-wap for the new century is what “Tell Me” accomplishes.

The lone Spanish track, “Una Razon” bristles with flamenco y conjunto, Spain meets Southwest Texas, in only a style Tommy could play. Border rock at its best.

Tired of the angst-rock currently on “modern rock” radio? Weary of hearing the same songs repeated on “classic rock” radio? Then the new Tommy Mora CD “Keep On Movin’” is your solution for musical transportation. Classic rock lives, but hear it with a fresh voice and arrangement interpretation to lift it to the present.
You won’t be disappointed.

Keep On Movin': The making of "Going Down to the Border" music video

Keep On Movin': The making of "Going Down to the Border" music video

The making of "Going Down to the Border" music video

Right around the time that we were finalizing the mixing process of my new album “Keep On Movin”, it was time to start choosing our first single for the launch. Even though I was leaning more towards “Freedom (of Love)” or “You Got me Running” as the first single, “Going Down to the Border” / actually felt more compelling. It was during Christmas break 2009 and the time felt so right to shoot this video. I was determined to shoot this video just as the song lyrics explained, “Puro PARTY”! In all reality the whole concept of this song was to tell a story based upon my high school party days. Growing up in El Paso and being exposed to under-age sex and booze was no problem at all! All you had to do was cross over the mexican border to Juarez and Whalaa!!! Go get’em cowboy!! Boy, let me tell you mexican chic’s love American boys with dollar bills! I will never forget that taxi driver who stood on the street corner asking guys if they were looking for chicas and a good times! aha He would persuade you into thinking you were about to hookup with Salma Hayek! Turned out to be more like Ugly Betty if you ask me, but hey after several Tecates anything goes...
So, I boarded the bus in LA and headed to El Paso. Upon arriving in El Paso, I started to work. Lucky for me, my Father was able to borrow a Canon XL2 video camera which helped since we had zero budget for this video. One of the first shots I envisioned was a shot of a bus driving into the city to set the tone and show my arrival. With that in mind, I headed to Trans Mountain, pulled my car on the side road, set up my tripod and waited for that bus to come. After waiting and failing on several attempts to get a clean shot of ANY bus, the same bus line and bus that I actually rode on, drove thru and I was lucky enough to get a clear shot! El Paso Texas is a city worlds apart from any city in Texas. Being a border town, you can clearly see and feel the Mexican culture of the city and people which is something I wanted to capture on film. So I headed to downtown El Paso in the middle of the day and just started shooting everything that caught my eye... One of my favorite places in El Paso must have to be Armijo Park and the huge painting on the wall of the Boy’s and Girl’s club, which showed 3 faces, one of a black, a white and a Mexican boy all coming together as one culture. I can remember those faces since I’ve been able to walk.
My father who really had no previous experience operating a professional video camera, quickly took on the ‘Video Photographer” role and captured me singing in the streets of El Paso. He was awesome and really understood the shots and angles that I wanted to shoot. For the club scene, our good friend Manny Cisneros was kind enough and allowed us to shoot in his bar “Tequila Garage”. From the moment I walked in the bar, it had exactly the look I was looking for. It reminded me of another bar in Cd. Juarez the famous “Tequila Derby”. So we called a couple of friends along and ordered our first round of shots. Lucky for us as soon as we started playing people from the pool hall next door heard the music and came right over to participate. Even though it was supposed to be a video shoot, we played live all night long and I let Jaime (our camera man) know to keep the camera rolling. One of the funniest shots we captured that night was one where I had my ex-girlfriend pretend like she was getting ready to go out. We shot that in the club’s bathroom stall and by that point we were all pretty smashed, she was trying really hard to keep her balance as she was pulling up her panty hose and try to act sexy. We must’ve shot that at least 10 times. It’s amazing how much laughter you get when you’re trying to be serious and sensual! She was great though, we had a blast.
So now I had over 20hrs.of footage and it was time to put it all together. I knew the editing wasn’t going to be easy since we had so much awesome footage. It would be impossible to display all of El Paso’s unique and beautiful history in a 4min. video. I was very fortunate to have Antonio Perez on board for this project as editor and colorist. He, being of Mexican descent himself, really understood the message of the song and could relate to the same visions we both wanted to portray. His work was phenomenal and all the hours of shooting really paid off. I was so grateful to have so many people come together for this video. Another person I would like to thank is Juan Calceran, an independent film maker from El Paso. He came up with many cool ideas and his camera work was great. I would also like to acknowledge Jaime Blanco, Manny Mendoza, Juan Calceran, Eddie Tarin, David Hamilton, Larry Diaz, all the extras but especially my father Tommy Mora Sr. for all the hard work and effort. I know this was an experience that I will never forget and I hope people in El Paso are able to see this video which really plays homage to our beautiful city of El Paso.


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