Russ Tolman

Sep 1, 2026 | Interviews

Words by Glenn Sargeant

Feature Image Photo Credit: Supplied By Red Sand PR

Russ Tolman is a singer-songwriter and recording artist who has spent several decades proving that persistence is a musical genre.

What is your earliest musical memory?

When I was very young, I would get excited whenever I saw someone playing guitar on television. Then when I was five, my parents brought a little guitar (and a ridiculously large sombrero) back from a trip to Mexico. The bridge of that guitar, as well as, one or two that I owned afterwards came unglued and were never repaired as I never really buckled down and set my mind to learning guitar until I was a teenager.

When did you begin songwriting?

In 1978, Steve Wynn, Kendra Smith, and I started a band called Suspects. I’d never been in a band before, aside from playing bass with my friend’s parents who played polka and country and western. Steve, Kendra and I were all DJs at the university radio station in Davis, California. We apparently were the first “new wave” band in town. Steve was the principal songwriter, but about a year in, I started writing a bit. As I recall, we did a couple of my songs in our set. By the time True West started, I was the primary songwriter there, although a lot of the earlier songs were co-writes with singer Gavin Blair or guitarist Richard McGrath.

You have your new album ‘STRAY’ being released on Friday 18th September 2026. How did you want to approach the making of the album?

I had demoed the tunes in my home studio, just voice and acoustic guitar, but I was the least confident about this group of songs than I had been about any I had written for an album. They were very personal and I just wasn’t sure they were any good. Tom Heyman, a fantastic guitarist (and a fine songwriter as well) suggested a studio called Boxer Lodge in the little town of Angwin in the hills above the Napa Valley and helped assemble a band with multi-instrumentalist Mike Coykendall on drums, who is known for his work with M. Ward and She & Him, as well as his own solo records and San Francisco studio whiz Rusty Miller on bass and piano. Tom played guitar and pedal steel and we cut the album in three long days in the redwoods. I took the tracks back to my studio in the desert and did just a few overdubs and then mixed it over last summer. Turns out that this is one of my very best groups of songs!

Where did you record the album and who produced it?

I’ve always produced my own records. I am still very fascinated by the process and love making records. I haven’t produced for anyone else in many years, but I love the studio and love tinkering about. Having a home studio gave me the luxury of spending as much time on mixing the record as it needed. Boxer Lodge, where we tracked it is a great room. Studio owner Peter Craft is an excellent engineer. I slept out in the pool house and after a chilly outdoor shower, I was in main house for coffee then into the studio where we put in 12 hour days. It was big fun. All the arrangements were figured out on the spot. Tom, Mike, and Rusty are great players and Mike is an excellent producer himself, so I was all ears in regards to their ideas.

Do you have any interesting, funny or memorable stories from the recording sessions?

We recorded in early spring and it was quite rainy, so we had few distractions from the outside world. At the end of the day, we would cook a communal meal. I recall putting together a memorable spaghetti sauce for the group. I didn’t poison anyone.

Did you use any particular instruments, microphones, recording equipment to help you get a particular sound/tone for the record?

Tom and I are both Fender guys. I play a Jazzmaster and Tom has a corral full of Telecasters, both Fender and custom builts in that style. For isolation, the amps were set up in the main house’s bedrooms. Tom’s pedal steel is a major part of the record, as are the background vocals done by Mike Coykendall and Rusty Miller. Rusty also played upright piano and then a bit of grand piano. We recorded everything dry except on some tracks, Tom left on his amp reverb. But other than that, I had full flexibility when I mixed to add whatever sauce each song needed.

Which of your new album tracks hear you at your a) happiest, b) angriest and c) most reflective?

I don’t think any of these songs can be considered happy. All are reflective. There’s a little bit of anger in there, but mostly it’s just sadness mixed with hope and a touch of optimism.

Who were the musicians who were on the album with you?

As mentioned, the core was Tom Heyman on guitar and pedal steel, Mike Coykendall on drums and backing vocals, and Rusty Miller on bass, piano, and backing vocals. Tom and I go back to 1989 when his band Go To Blazes and I were both on the Skyclad label out of New Jersey. We met when we shared a bill at a club in Philadelphia, where he and band were based. He was the sherpa on my first Philly cheese steak experience. We both ended up living in San Francisco by the late ’90s. That’s where I met Mike Coykendall, who at that time had a band called the Old Joe Clarks. He is originally from Iowa. After San Francisco, Mike moved up to Portland, where he has produced many records and is well known for his work with M. Ward and She & Him.On STRAY, he played drums and did all the background vocal arrangements. Rusty Miller is someone to whom Tom had introduced me. He’s a studio whiz who plays several instruments well and also sings background.

Does the album’s title have a specific meaning/significance?

Listen to the title track. It tells all…

Was it a difficult album to write?

Yes, as I mentioned, I was not very confident about this group of tunes. I guess because I was so close to songs. I generally write in the first person. I’m not really a storyteller. Most of my songs are an expression of what I am feeling at the time.

Who designed the album artwork?

My wife, Kim A. Tolman, who is a fine art painter and a production designer who has worked for Disney and Universal Studios was the art director. The layout was by LSD Jones and Jon Krop. I am very happy with it.

One of the tracks is the single ‘Streets of Denim’ out now. What was the story/inspiration behind the track?

That song was co-write with Steve Wynn. In fine Lennon and McCartney fashion, he wrote the main part of the song and I wrote the bridge. It’s a bittersweet slice with a nostalgic twist.

Where is your hometown?

I don’t really have a hometown. I moved around quite a bit as a child and that nomadic kind of life has stuck with me. My wife and I find ourselves moving house every two or three years. Although, I would say over the years, I have spent the most time in Los Angeles in two or three chunks.

Do you have any live dates planned in the UK/Europe in 2026?

Working on it, but nothing’s confirmed. It’ll likely to be early 2027 rather than this year.

Do you have any favoured stage instruments, effects, pedals, microphones etc?

As mentioned, I like Fender guitars – my main being a Jazzmaster and I played mostly Telecasters in True West, but I’ve owned Gibson Les Pauls, a D’Angelico, a Gretsch, and several others. I am not really an effects guy. I can barely handle a tuner and fuzzbox on stage. For amps, I am definitely a Fender guy. I played a 70s Twin Reverb in True West, and I am a big fan of Princetons and Deluxes. As for vocal mics in the studio, I lean toward something warm and tubey that doesn’t emphasize the nasality in my voice like a Telefunken 251.

You are given the opportunity to write the score for a film adaptation of a novel that you enjoy. Which novel is it and why?

I’m a big fan of film noir, so I would love to score a film adaptation of any by Jim Thompson, Charles Willeford, Chester Himes, or even Raymond Chandler.

How do you look after your voice?

I don’t really. I don’t find myself singing or playing guitar unless I plan on writing songs for a record or getting ready for shows. I took a few guitar lessons from Richard Lloyd of Television and he told me my biggest problem is that I have no discipline, and he’s quite right.

Who are some of your musical influences? Do you have any recommendations?

I have too many influences to even begin. Everything from 1950s honky tonk to Television to classic standards by the likes of Cole Porter and the Gershwin Brothers to what was on the radio when I grew up. If you want to get a sense, check out my radio show, The Russ Tolman Goodtime Hour, which conveniently is also a podcast available on all your favorite platforms. I spin a dizzying array of genres and styles, as well as interview indie music legends.

What makes Russ Tolman happy and what makes you unhappy?

Lots of things make me happy. Pretty much just waking up alive makes me happy. What makes me unhappy is when people don’t appreciate what they have. It’s really annoying to see when people can’t be bothered to walk thirty feet to put something in a trash can.