Tom Mossman - RIP

The Dragon Folk Club is sad to inform of the passing of Tom Mossman at the beginning of April 2026.

Tom had been coming along to the Dragon Folk Club since about 1981. In those days it was held at the Lamb in Iron Acton and the pub shut by 11pm. Tom would rush back into Bristol to the Stone House which stayed open until 1am, with every artist imaginable dropping in on their way home from gigs - it was like a folk collage. Tom was able to learn from the best, including Fred Wedlock to Loudon Wainwright III.

Tom played original, blues and contemporary songs with guitar, banjo, mandolin and harmonica. During his days at The Stone House he played support to the likes of Wizz Jones, Diz Disley and Isaac Guillory. In 1992 he won the Best New Artist Award at the Wath Folk Festival.

He came from a musical family; his father played the piano, his mother was a dancer and Tom recalls his grandfather with his wooden doll dancing to the rhythm of his fingers drumming on a plank (just like Seth Davy in Glyn Hughes' song Whiskey on a Sunday). Tom's musical influences included Bing Crosby, The Beatles, Flanagan and Allen, Don McLean, Paul Simon, Jim Croce, Dr Hook, Jake Thackray, Buddy Holly, Eric Clapton, Louis Armstrong, The Shadows, Scott Joplin, Carole King, Duke Ellington and Jimmy Young and even with that raft of influences there still seemed to be some room for Tom to be himself.

You can still hear Tom's singing on his YouTube channel and on that of Terry Helyar.

This week we have also heard of the passing of our former MC, Mike Starkey, so I suggest that tonight's session (17th April 2026) and maybe the next few sessions might have an additional (always optional) theme of songs they sang. Here is the very incomplete list of Tom's songs from the Dragon database.

Across The Great Divide     -     Kate Wolf
American Tune     -     Paul Simon
Autumn Leaves     -     Joseph Kosma, Hulló levelek, Johnny Mercer
Bad Bad Leroy Brown     -     Jim Croce
Be As You Are     -     James Taylor
Blues Run The Game     -     Jackson C Frank
Boys Of Kilkenny, The     -     Roud 1451
Brother Can You Spare A Dime     -     E. Y. "Yip" Harburg,  Jay Gorney
Comedians And Angels     -     Tom Paxton
Cootamundra Wattle     -     John Williamson
Diamantina Rover, The     -     Hugh McDonald
Duncan     -     Paul Simon
Echo Mocks The Corncrake, The     -     Roud 2736
From Clare To Here     -     Ralph McTell
Girl From The Hiring Fair, The     -     Ralph McTell
Green Eyes     -     Kate Wolf
Her father didn't like me anyway     -     Gerry Rafferty
Ho Ho Flaming Ho     -     Kevin Bloody Wilson, Tom Mossman
Home Lass Home     -     Tom Mossman
Lasso The Moon     -     Tom Mossman
Let Me Down Easy     -     Ralph McTell
Linden Lea     -     William Barnes, Ralph Vaughan Williams
Looking For You     -     Allan Taylor
May You Never     -     John Martyn
No Other Name     -     Paul Stookey
Pop Goes the Weasel     -     Roud 5249
Roll On The Day     -     Allan Taylor
She Loved A Portuguese     -     Paddy Roberts or Patrick Cogshill
Shiver Me Timbers     -     Tom Waits
Standing At The Door     -     Allan Taylor
Sweet Baby Jane     -     Tom Mossman
These Dreams     -     Jim Croce
Trouble In Mind     -     Richard M Jones
When Annie Took Me Home     -     Tom Paxton
You've Got A Friend     -     Carole King
Your Song     -     Elton John, Bernie Taupin