Tom Mank and Sera Smolen: Buy

with Sera Smolen (cello), Tom Mank (guitar, vocal), Kirsti Gholson (vocal), Julie Last (vocal), Jennie Lowe Stearns (vocal), Kathy Ziegler (piano, vocal), Joe Viellete (gryphon guitar), Dave Unland (tuba) and Manuel Quintana (percussion)

"Tom Mank is a monster songwriter in the vein of the old folk/blues artists like Dave Van Ronk, but with a sense of the present. His music portraits range from romantic to political and when they don't reach for the heart, they embed themselves in the head. He is intelligence in music. Sera Jane Smolen, on the other hand, is music personified. Her cello supplements Mank's guitar with bass riffs and jazz phrasing as well as support from the masters." - Frank Gutch Jr., Hubpages.com

with Sera Smolen (cello), Tom Mank (guitar, vocal), Amy Merrill (violin), Eddie Smith (percussion), Michael Veitch (guitar), Josh Roy Brown (lap steel), David Hornung (accordian), Julie Last (vocal) and Kirsti Gholson (vocal). 

"Tom Mank is a monster songwriter, right up there with the best, and can paint musical pictures like you can't believe. His voice has an underneath-a-streetlight-late-at-night aura to it that is entirely disarming at times. And Sera Jane Smolen? If you want to hear what a difference a cello can really make, this will show you. She is nothing short of masterful, playing everything from standup jazz bass to flowing classical-oriented movements, all on a cello. I can't say enough about her playing." - Frank Gutch Jr., hubpages.com

with Sera Smolen (cello), Tom Mank (guitar, vocal), Dee Specker (violin, vocal), Laura Branca (vocal), Michael Galloway (trumpet), Danny Birch (sarod), Paul Fairbanks(banjo), Ruth Roland (violin) and Patti Witten (vocal). 

"Due to their willingness to keep changing things up, the sounds of their instruments are continually fresh and inspiring, as are the arrangements. There is always some cool new surprise poking its impish head around the corner ahead of us as the CD progresses. It is thrilling when artists dig in and craft a work as rich and vibrant and authentic as this. Five stars." - Corbin Keep, Cello City Ink