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"Ever get the feeling that a lot of "sensitive" male singer/songwriters are just a little too in touch with their feminine sides? Tired of songs that sound like the singer's therapy sessions now define their lives?Are you sick of wimps with acoustic guitars? Meet the antidote: Tommy Elskes (pronounced els-kiss). Elskes' new album Bohemia is a category-defying outing, touching most genres of American popular music including rock, country, folk, blues, R&B, jazz, and even Zydeco.  No whine-fest for Freudians here; Mr. Elskes is man enough to deal with real adult issues, such as aging(“Too Fat To Fly”, Loneliness(”Boulevard"),"), or finding contentment in simple things(“King Of Dixie”) across six original tunes and eight covers.
     Whether singing about faded dreams(“Jenni’s Not Coming Home”) or pleading his affection for a woman wronged (“Try Me”), Elskes’ voice exudes a maturity borne of too many nights playing in smokey barrooms and from having been around the block a few times. Marvelous production and a large cast of crackfire musicians richly compliment the songs. Stuart Hutto’s airy and haunting french horn floats above Elskes’ plaintive flat-picked guitar, as John Hagen’s cello bouys “Jenni’s.” Tony Campise’s swinging New Orleans clarinet sets the mood for “Bohemia.” Riley Osbourn’s Hammond B-3 organ adds a sweet ‘70s retro vibe to “As The Crow Flies.” The stripped-down version of “Walk Away Rene” (yes, that AM radio chestnut) with just voice, finger-picked guitar and bare-bones percussion (giving way to an instrumental break of french horn and strings) highlights the deep sadness of that song more than any other version you have likely ever heard. There are simply more strong performances and tasteful tunes than can be listed here.
     File this one with your Lyle Lovett, Steve Earle, and John Hyatt records - break it out to enjoy with a stiff adult beverage and a contemplative mood.
—Jim Thomas - Southeast Performer Magazine

"Tommy Elskes delivers pop rock, folk, country, blues R&B and even a touch of Cajun music on his versatile, listenable second album.  His voice reeks of sincerity and sensitivity!"
—Buddy Magazine

Journeyman musician Tommy Elskes sounds like a roadhouse veteran on his second album, Bohemia. This makes an excellent calling card for his live show and could help him graduate from those bars to better paying gigs.
—All Music Guide

Austin, Texas develops some of the best and most memorable musicians ever to grace the stages or the studios of this grand land. Well, another has been delivered. His name is Tommy Elskes. Although the man doesn't hail from that part of the country, he sure learned a few licks along the way.

From start to finish this CD really impressed me. Tommy's strong vocals and standout lyrics are some of the reasons why each song holds its own right alongside some of the more and successful artists that we have come to know and appreciate. His performance level easily matches performers who have household names, such as Springsteen and Taylor.

This CD is full of richly diverse styles. Elskes brings a full plate to the table, with a mighty strong blues feel to it. You will hear many different elements as well, including r&b, country, and rock. Every aspect of this varied musical soundscape helps to carry the messages within each song. It all comes streaking down the railroad of your mind and directly to the heart. Lyrically the content is on a level all it's own. While all the musicianship is excellent, it's the lyrics and vocals that push the Elskes into a realm that few have reached in their careers.

Emotionally, this disc turned me inside out and gave me chills at the same time. It all has an air of magic and timelessness that is hard to explain in words. This music tells many stories. While painting pictures of the characters and situations in your mind, it has a down home southern feel to it. The music and words will tug on your heartstrings. A little bit of us all is in each and every song.

Some quickly recognizable standards are covered - "Motherless Child" (Eric Clapton & many others), "Madman Across The Water" (Elton John), and the classic by the Left Banke, "Walk Away Rene." Elskes really let's it all hang out, and he let's everyone know the power and suggestiveness of his vocal prowess in all of these great songs. Some of the original compositions - "Breaux Bridge" and "To Fat To Fly", focuses on his introspective point of view and his grand sense of humor.

Do yourself a huge favor...pick up this CD. It won't leave your stereo for long before it finds its way back there for another spin. Yes, Tommy Elskes has arrived. Won't you welcome him into your hearts and minds?
—Keith Hannaleck - MuzikMan's Sound Script

Tommy Elskes delivers pop-rock, folk, country, blues, R&B, and even a touch of Cajun music on his versatile, listenable second album. In a voice that reeks of sincerity and sensitivity, he mixes a handful of originals with covers as wide-ranging as Walter Hyatt, Elton John/Bernie Taupin, and a couple of public domain traditionals. Elskes, a New Mexico native who spent a year in Los Angeles, recently moved to New Orleans after long stints in Austin and Telluride. He released his first album, King of Dixie, in 1993 in Austin. On the new album, he was joined in the studio by a diverse group of musicians including Ponty Bone on accordion, Tony Campise on horns, Paul Glasse on mandolin, Chris Maresh on bass, Riley Osbourn on keyboards, Paul Pearcy on drums, and Ted Roddy on harmonica.
The music is, as expected, from this group, solid and Elskes' songwriting is specific:

On "Breaux Bridge," an evocative song about crawfish and human lures, he sings, "talk that talk, pinch that tail, sip your whiskey and set your sail;"

On the title song, a foggy wisp of a piece, he sings about some fool inquiring if Elskes really knows what it's like "to be alive way down in Bohemia," where people are "flyin' high;" *

On "Too Fat to Fly," he sings, "I gave up bein' superman, so many years ago, now I run real fast and pretend I'm flyin' low."

Elskes does a good job of interpreting others' lyrics, too, bringing new perspectives to songs including the Elton John hit "Madman Across the Water," the oft-recorded traditional "Motherless Child," and the traditional "No More Cane on the Brazos (Go Down Hannah).

—Tom Geddie – Twangzine.com

While it's not the song included in this issue of MRQ, the opening track of Tommy Elskes' Bohemia, "Breaux Bridge," is a cascading blast of shimmering, fast-licks acoustic guitar and a full-bodied testosterone vocal lead somewhere along the line of Bob Segar in the late sixties when rootsy/bluesy rock was muscle-bound even when the primary instrument was an acoustic guitar. Since that heyday of muscular blues-rock, only blues artists have seemed eager to keep it alive, and
Tommy Elskes has enough of the blues artist in him to know how good it can sound when handled right.
     Blues isn't Elskes only strength, however. He dips confidently into folk, country, and even jazz when the spirit so moves him. An acoustic jack of all trades, Elskes finds the center of his work in the skillful picking of his acoustic guitar and the slightly gruff fullness of his voice. From there he simply goes where the song leads him. His original material follows a wide range of options from the rockers to the country-flavored "The Rodeo Song." His choice of covers (six of the fourteen songs are originals, six covers, and two public domain reworkings) is a good indication of his range, moving as they do from ballads ("Jenni's Not Coming Home" and the Elton John/Bernie Taupin chestnut "Madman Across the Water") to a nicely poignant take on the Left Banke's "Walk Away Rene."
     So Tommy Elskes may be aware of niche marketing, but he's not have much to do with it. Instead he's looking for good songs with a fair bit of bite to them so that he can work both his guitar and vocal work to their strengths. When there isn't an inherent bite to a song, he's satisfied with letting it roll smoothly on. Either way, that acoustic guitar is going to take a primary role as he deftly rings the notes out with precision, speed and taste. Lots of taste.
     A full complement of players work with Elskes, making this a smooth, clean production with sound professionally delivered at all ends of the spectrum. Fully sixteen players provide everything from French horn and cello to accordion and mandolin. Horizon Records did a fine job putting this disc together, from that sound production to the packaging.
Plenty of circumstantial evidence points to Tommy Elskes being a seasoned veteran who takes his work seriously. He has listened to a lot of music,absorbed it for the lessons it has to give, and translated that into his work. He probably knows about every chord progression in every key in every style, and he understands completely what sounds good and when to administer it.
     Somewhere no doubt plenty of people know about Tommy Elskes and his music. This was my first introduction to him, and I'm struck by how thoroughly sharp it is from any angle one might like to look. Bohemia works because a great deal of care went into it, and any recording that shows this kind of care and talent deserves to be heard.
—Music Review Quarterly