_Empty Glass: Music gives Tom Moran the power to start over
Williamsburg Courier/January 9, 2007 --- Written By: Ryn Gargulinski
Canarsie’s Tom Moran 
is the average Brooklyn boy. That is, if the average Brooklyn boy sinks to the depths of despair and then rises to the glory of the spotlight with a little guitar and a lot of faith.
Moran said growing up with a close-knit Brooklyn brood was the easy part. The hard part came later when alcohol took over his life and he gave up nearly everything he loved -- except strumming that guitar. Even if it was, at times, only in the back of his head. “My Uncle Charlie, sister Kathy and cousin Oatsie all played guitar,” Moran said, adding he knew he wanted to continue the family tradition. “I wanted to make that same music,” he said.
Not only did he pick up the guitar when he was 18, Moran said that was the same time he wrote his first song. “It was a terrible song,” he laughed. “It was like ‘fishes down by the sea.” His lyrics have since matured into heartfelt reality – which deal with daily life everywhere, but especially in the Borough of Brooklyn. “Brooklyn keeps it real,” Moran said. “I’m a city worker, a teacher, and I always look for the positive things Brooklyn has to offer.”
That’s a far cry from some of the feelings that erupt on his first album. Running the gamut from feeling chained, hopeless, “invisible in a room full of people” and drinking “because I had to”, Moran’s CD exposes the ugly side of the martini glass. But rather than letting alcohol beat him down into a useless pulp, Moran turned the tables on it and has been sober for 16 years – and used his story as musical inspiration.
Aptly entitled “Starting Over” and available at cdbaby.com/cd/moran, Moran said the title track best sums up his life. “It’s about addiction, a new start,” he said. Like his smoky-voiced lyrics, Moran’s guitar playing goes right to the heart.
Several tunes, like “Help Me Baby” and “I Would Drink” have that sad, somber feel of the country chap who croons about his lost car, home and girlfriend. But this Brooklyn boy doesn’t leave the listener in the gutter and he wants to assist those that are. “I do want to help people,” he said, “homeless people and those in need.” Oh, yes. He also wants to sell a million albums. My manager says 10 million,” Moran said.
A jam session for his CD is more like a family reunion than anything else. With three guitar players and a manager, the brood all have Brooklyn roots that have intertwined for quite some time. Bath Beach’s, Frank Scaglione, has been jamming with Moran for 15 years, when Moran first showed up on his doorstep with a guitar to record his first demo in 1993. “I thought ‘Who is this guy?’” Scaglione recalled, something he admits he still wonders.
Moran is hoping that his music will soon be playing on radios throughout the entire nation. “Yes, I think we’ll be successful,” Moran said. “We hit a certain nerve. And we love the audience. We’re not going anywhere without them.”
______________________"Rock-N-Roll Dreams" - Help Him To Start Over
Canarsie Courier/August 9, 2004 --- Written By: Neil S. Friedman
For years, singer/songwriter Tom Moran had an itch for music. Now in his thirties, Moran recently decided to follow his muse when he released his debut album,
Starting Over. The 9-song CD, released independently, is a personal triumph and his tribute to the power of sobriety and second chances.
Sounding similar to rocker John Mellencamp on several cuts with lyrics not unlike early Bob Dylan, Moran’s re-cording is an eclectic mix of rock, folk, country, grassroots and a hint of blues.
A Brooklyn native, Moran currently lives in Gerritsen Beach with his wife and four-year-old son. When he was a teenager, he lived in Canarsie with his family. He is an alumnus of Canarsie High School and John Wilson IS 211. Moran says he first picked up the guitar as a teenager, spending his days perfecting his craft. It wasn’t long be-fore Moran began testing out his vocal abilities with the encouragement of singers in his family.
Fast forward two decades and Moran continues to be a music force that reflects the sentiments of his upbringing as he plays at neighborhood venues across Brooklyn. He is scheduled to make a return engagement to Starbucks in Bay Ridge on September 4 from 8:00—9:00 p.m. On the advice of fans and friends, Moran made his way into a Manhattan recording studio and cut "Starting Over", which reveals the story of an underdog gone good, and a man learning to recognize that positive gains can be made through difficult and painful times. Tracks of note include "Help Me Baby," "Into The Sun," "I Would Drink," "Small Record Deal," and the title track.
"Starting Over", is about the average person trying to get through the hardships of life and coming out the other side a better person," says Moran. After several years of battling the bottle, Moran entered a 12-step program at the age of 25 and it helped him stop drinking. He says, "The best decision I ever made in my life was to stop drinking and get help."
Moran’s motto in life: "Keep on Dreamin’ and keep on Rockin"
Moran’s skirmishes and triumph over alcohol surface in several songs. In "I Would Drink" he sings, "I used to go out drinking…I was lonely and so confused…But now I’m sober and clean…and the bottle ain’t beating me up no more." In "Starting Over," Moran confronts his demon head on, "Well, I’ve been in a fog for a mighty long time … gotta find my way to the other side …Addiction is a mighty tough thing …I know it’s happened to me quite a few times. It didn’t seem like there was a way out, but I’m starting over baby."
His music’s connection to Dylan and Mellencamp is no accident, as Moran admits those rock icons, as well as Bruce Springsteen provided him inspiration for much of the album. When the Courier published an article about Moran’s rock and roll aspirations 10 years ago, Josh Gazes wrote, "He sounds most like Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones — minus the effects of years of chain smoking and heroin addiction."
When he’s not making music,
Moran is a teacher and a family man. He has a Masters Degree in Education from Brooklyn College and for the last seven years he has taught physical education to the physically challenged at a Brooklyn public school. Each of us uses different means to overcome personal problems.
Pictured: Tom & his son Jonathan.
An old proverb claims, "Music has charms to soothe a savage breast." In Tom Moran’s case, that notion seems to have helped him start over.
Album : “Starting Over”
Artist: Tom Moran
Williamsburg Courier/May 12, 2004 --- Written/Reviewed By: Ryn Gargulinski
From the get go, Tom Moran’s first album , “Starting Over”, grabs the listener by its sheer relevance. Kicking off with the song, “Small Record Deal,” Moran asks a simple question – “Have you ever felt invisible in a room full of people?” Folks who cannot relate to that inquiry are the only ones who may not be able to relate to his music. And those, if any, are few.
The album gets more relevant – and even more heartfelt – from there. Running the gamut from feeling chained, hopeless and drinking “because I had to,” to the sparkle of enlightenment and rebirth from his dead end way of life, "Starting Over" takes the listener on an emotional journey, replete with some snazzy background music.
Like his smoky-voiced lyrics, Moran’s guitar playing goes right to the heart. Several tunes, like “Help Me Baby” and “I Would Drink” have a sad, somber feel of the country chap who croons about he lost his car, home and girlfriend. But this Brooklyn boy doesn’t leave the listener in the gutter. Some somber songs aside, the whole of the album remains uplifting, with a bluesy feel that gets shoulders swaying and toes tapping at the neighborhood bar. Although a bar, these days, is not where one will find Moran. Unless, of course, he’s performing.
The lighter, softer songs also carry the album’s undercurrent of hope. “Little Baby,” a song replete with love for his son, can easily be compared to a new-fangled lullaby. However, this is one lullaby that doesn’t end when the bough breaks and an infant tumbles to his death. This one is replete with honesty, hope and love. Perfect ingredients for this new album.