From his earliest years as a Beatles fan through the Progressive Rock of the 70's, to his attachment to the blues, Tom has been intimately in tune with his music. He started playing the guitar as a pre-teen and by the age of 16 was writing songs and playing professionally in a local Rock and Roll band in his home town of Hamilton Ohio. In his early 20's, he had taken to fingerstyle guitar. Picking up books full of classical pieces arranged for the guitar, he further broadened his musical horizons in this totally new direction. It was shortly after this that he began setting up his first multi-track recording studio to write and record original songs. Performing the various parts himself on whatever instruments were at hand, he began developing his style of arrangement and audio engineering. His next phase found him settling into the acoustic guitar. Blues was a natural progression as he explored the more emotional aspect of these sounds. Often described as a Clapton model, he continued to write and record for the sheer pleasure of the creative process. Now Tom has come full circle. He is still writing and recording, but rather than biasing his sound toward a given direction, he tends to prefer a variety of flavors that reflect the various genres that he's studied over time. His songs are fully developed and can display the warmest aspects of an acoustic guitar or the excited edge of an electric. It's not enough to describe his music as "guitar based". It runs the gamit from complex fingerstyle arrangements to good old Rock and Roll. While tending to favor a fully orchestrated sound, he's equally at home with the basic elements of an emotional delivery. He describes music with terms like "fun" and "entertaining", but can still deliver a pensive moment with finesse. Tom's new cd, "Slight of Hand" contains 11 songs and over 53 minutes of music that provides clear evidence of these influences. From the raw Texas blues of "Take a Step" to the introspective "I'll Find My Way", it's his style that's cohesive. Even the epic "A Night at the Farnsworth" displays the unmistakable Tom Hoelle sound. Give the samples a listen and you'll agree, this cd offers a variety of music that'll put it in steady rotation in your player.