"Tom Flannery's music is a direct, confident continuation of a story-telling tradition; characters are well formed, lyrics flow effortlessly, harmonies are simple but never clichéd. It would be easy to forget just how well crafted his recordings are when lost in one of his subtle evocations of the minutiae of hard, everyday existences. Despite being part of a long tradition, Tom Flannery's music never feels "retro"... just timeless. He is a very special writer and performer indeed."
-- Neil Luckett

"a great lyricist"
-- Pete Seeger

"One of the most gifted songwriters to emerge 
at the turn of the century."
 -- AMG All Music Guide

"Tom Flannery owns the songs he writes. The emotional expression behind these lyrical stories was not put 
there......but born there."
-- John Oakes / The Broadsheet

"The Anthracite Shuffle is a brilliant and eclectic tapestry 
of American folk music"
--Sound Bytes

"[Drinking with Nick Drake is] intimate, direct, beautifully limpid... Flannery’s compositions somehow seem to transform average Americans into almost  mythic dramatis personae...the strongest set of lyrics he has yet penned"
-- AMG All Music Guide

"[Song About a Train] is a beautifully crafted 
and melodic CD"
-- Boston Soundcheck Magazine

".....a sharp debut CD. Flannery has a lot to say about 
the merits of the unspectacular, small town life and the interwoven lives of the inhabitants, and he does it well. 
One of the best of 1998." 
-- Kevin's Celtic & Folk Music CD Reviews 

"Tom Flannery['s] bone-chilling version of "Boom Boom Mancini" (from "Hurry Home Early - The Songs of Warren Zevon") marks the disc's pinnacle. Whereas Zevon's versions paint Mancini as a modern-day folk hero, Flannery's haunting vocal delivery gives the boxer's story a terrifying, stone-cold killer interpretation."
-- Splendid Magazine

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