READ WHAT THE CRITICS HAVE BEEN SAYING ABOUT TOM RIGNEY AND FLAMBEAU:

"I have been doing this channel for all 11 years of its existence and your music seems to create more response than any other artist we have played over all those years. It is great to see the audience get that excited over an artist’s music.  You have made us sound great and all we have had to do is spin some sides from your discs. You are all top notch players and it is a pleasure to let others hear your music."
Bill Wax, Program Director, XM/Sirius Radio BLUESVILLE CHANNEL

Fiddle-led cajun/blues rock doesn't get better than this. Straight ahead, tight and hot. It's a booter...A killer festival band!"
Ian Anderson, Froots Magazine

"Tom Rigney is a world class fiddler. He wields a fiery bow with power, passion, and exquisite taste. The blues come in lots of shades. Tom and company do the palette soulful, jumping, memorable justice."
Jim Beal, Jr., San Antonio Express-Times

"Tom Rigney plays the violin and MAN can he play! High, low, moans, screams, etc., all from that fiddle. He is in my mind one of the cleanest, smoothest fiddle players I've ever heard. He somehow adjusts that instrument to the right genre. Rigney has surrounded himself with some fine musicians that can really play and support his arrangements. The band is made up of talented artists who are themselves impressive. These guys are good, fiery, talented, and hot. The originals here have the feel of classics."
The Critical Review

"And then there is Tom Rigney, who stands tall in the field of blues violin, producing some really outstanding material over the past few years. This is a pure ensemble that works to perfection with one another."
Ted Todd, Cascade Blues

"The surprise of the festival came from Tom Rigney and Flambeau, a band from the San Francisco Bay Area. They took the stage with smiles on their faces. Clint Eastwood's twin paid us a visit, and he plays the violin! God, he has an incredible amount of energy! He leaps in all directions, the handsome Mr. Rigney. Finally, a different ambiance--something to revive a sleepy crowd. Tom even came down off the stage and whipped the crowd into a line of madness...!
Tom and his group's performance was THE revelation of the festival. Even the headliner's performance could not eclipse the incredible punch of the equally talented Tom Rigney and Flambeau."
Jean-Pierre Lhoir, Musique en Belgium

Even at the end of a rich festival fatigue had not a shred of a chance to strike, because the whirlwind fiddle player Tom Rigney with his band Flambeau lit the tent on fire! This was at times a textbook example of how Cajun can be. But the show was also quite varied--Rigney took us to the Mardi Gras, lingered with the  blues, offered an original version of "Iko Iko", a haunting version of "House Of The Rising Sun” and a super festive “Jambalaya ". A striking figure in this group was pianist Caroline Dahl, who we dare mention in the same breath with her colleagues Honey Piazza and Sue Palmer. Fearlessly stylish she wound the enthusiastic spectators around her finger. It was a beautiful finish to the festival!"
Franky Brunee, Back to the Roots

A fiddler that's had kind of an amazing life steps up with his latest roots extravaganza that simply makes you wonder why this guy is putting out his records himself. High octane, energetic and note perfect throughout, any alt.adult fan that considers himself a real music fan owes it to himself to get a load of this action. A winner throughout. "
Chris Spector, Midwest Record

:Tom Rigney combines technical virtuosity with the drive and enthusiasm of a great dance fiddler. Drawing on influences as diverse as Cajun, Celtic, Gypsy and blues, Rigney covers a full emotional range from the melancholy of Consolation through the wild dance-frenzy of Hounded. The interplay is spectacular..."
Philip Campbell, Fiddler Magazine

"FIVE STARS!! Tom Rigney's "A Blue Thing" will send an electric shiver down your spine. This release is a powerful storm for your ears! A definite must for any blues fan."
Roots Music Report

"No band, and no musician, no matter how big the name, does it any better."
Jaime O'Neill

"Tom Rigney has refreshened the palette of contemporary choice. He's written exacting music that requires a high level of skill to play and absolutely no effort to listen to. Try to sit still while Rigney's guys play--I dare you! Try to pretend that they are not unabashedly beautiful, wistul, haunting , or mirthful as the track-may-be and you'll wear yourself out with the effort. These guys are great!"
Peter Coyote

"Flambeau is a labor of love and a work of art for Rigney."
Roger Hoskins, Modesto Bee

"FIVE STARS! ALL HITS! NO MISSES!! This hour-long masterpiece is filled with great cover songs and imaginative original songs. Delicious swing blues in "Blow Away My Blues", "Deep River Blues" and "That Nasty Swing", Cajun and bayou music with "Gator Boy" and "Don and Dewey", and fat blues and blowers in pure Gatemouth style "Gate's on the Heat" . . . High points galore: the ballad "Hold me Tight", with beautful interaction between violin and harmonica--Clarence 'Gatemouth' Brown meets Toots Thielemans; the traditional "Wayfaring Stranger", country blues meets balkan with a leading role for Norton Buffalo, Bob Brozman and Dix Bruce; "Gator Boy" with a clever guitar solo from Danny Caron (in an earlier life guitarist with Charles Brown), and the blues classic "Baby Please Don't Go" where Norton Buffalo and Roy Rogers can excel--the ultimate blues tandem, as it were. After all these years Tom Rigney's music still sounds just as fresh and scintillating. For anyone who regularly looks for blues CD's with that touch of something more--for example, great country blues, a diversity of styles, clever solo work, etc.--this is the right place. A disc to savour with a glass of champagne over the holidays."
Roots Town Review, Belgium

"It was just before 9:00 when Tom Rigney, backed by Flambeau, SET THE TENT ON FIRE! The music is as flamboyant as the man himself. A top level show, without doubt the cherry on this already delicious pie."
Patrick Lagae, Bobtje's Blues Pages

"Dazzling...a surprising musical experience, vibrant and various in its repertoire of original compositions. It is hard to sit still through the sweet compelling airs and stompin' Cajun melodies played with joyous virtuosity."
Janet Gallin, San Francisco Moda Magazine

Second fiddle to no one."
Brian Kluepfel, Berkeley Voice

"Never less than spellbinding. The eclectic and sizzling music runs the gamut from gritty zydeco and funky blues to New Orleans jazz. The style of playing is consistent, yet varied and extremely melodic; it's also passionate and, above all, infectious. It's hard to know whether to be more impressed by Rigney's playing, his compositions, or the back-up support he gets."
Paul E. Comeau, Dirty Linen

"Probably the most dynamic album of instrumental music I have ever heard. If this doesn't kick your spirits up, nothing will! These guys are a national treasure!"
Lloyd Kahn, Shelter Magazine