Michael Tarbox writes songs anchored in rock ‘n’ roll, backwater blues, and hillbilly music. Longing and lyrical, they convey a sense of hard-won perspective. The Chicago Reader calls Tarbox’s singing “ageless.” His gospel-tinged electric guitar playing, tough as Texas barbed-wire, brings it all together. 

“At the heart of Tarbox’s music is his guitar, as raw as it is charismatic. It creates an electricity that courses through every song.”

Tarbox began his career as frontman for The Tarbox Ramblers. The hard-hitting Boston-based roots band released well-received albums on Rounder, played countless shows throughout the US and Canada, and drew praise from The New Yorker, All Things Considered, and more. The Washington Post called them “a force of nature.” Robert Plant saw the band play and recruited them, on the spot, to open a string of concert dates for him.

Venues Tarbox has played include: The Orpheum Theatre (Boston), City Winery, Lincoln Center, The Ark (Ann Arbor) and The Birchmere (Washington, DC). He’s also played The Philly Folk Festival, California’s Strawberry Music Festival and The Green River Festival in Massachusetts. In Canada he’s appeared at The Toronto Blues Festival, Alberta’s Salmon Arms Festival and, in British Columbia, The Burnaby Blues Festival.

 Tarbox writes his own songs, playing them on electric and acoustic guitars in a variety of tunings. He says “My inspirations are old hillbilly and prewar blues. I let them guide me, but my goal is to create something new.” 

$15 advance; $20 day of show

 https://www.michaeltarbox.com/video

All Things Considered –– “Homemade rock ‘n’ roll with a dose of rattlesnake venom and gospel-drenched howling”

Calgary Sun –– “Tarbox is the most evocative and distinctive blues-roots artist to come down the pike in ages.