A generational flood seen through the eyes of youth. The tenuous borderline between dreams and reality. Unity of purpose during the most desperate wartime hours. The mystery and wonder of a childhood that wasn’t defined by technology.

These are just a few of the scenes that Foundry Town Survivors bring to life on their latest EP — a colorful, unusual, emotionally forthright, and impeccably detailed exercise in musical storytelling from a pair of master craftsmen. The EP, which will be released on November 5, 2021, establishes the Survivors as songwriters with a knack for wide-screen narrative. Call them an Americana act, and you won’t be wrong: these are profoundly American stories brought to life by Motor City musicians with strong roots and deep knowledge of musical traditions. Call them classic rockers, and that fits, too. You’ll hear echoes of Petty and Springsteen, Dire Straits and Dylan, Rodney Crowell, Motown soul, even a pinch of outlaw country.

But at heart, the Foundry Town Survivors are short-story writers. The fact that they’re also outstanding musicians with an impeccable sense of melody, meter, and perspective is almost beside the point. Everything you’ll hear on the Foundry Town Survivors EP — from the carefully selected guitar tones to the propulsive rhythms to the clear, beautifully recorded vocals — is designed to advance the storytelling and deepen the listener’s experience of the songs. As songwriters, Mark Tomorsky and Tommy Johnsmiller are specialists in total immersion: their songs put you right there on the bank with the floodwaters rising, there in the heart of battle with the soldiers, there witnessing an intimate statement of unconditional love… They paint these pictures with exquisite attention to detail: sonic, lyrical, temporal, emotional.

Only writers with genuine lived experience could write songs that ring as true as those on Foundry Town Survivors do. Tomorsky and Johnsmiller have powerful imaginations and good memories, too. They draw masterfully from their childhoods, their interactions with the towns where they were raised and the cities where they lived, and their own relationships with partners and with each other. 

Both musicians have spent years in the music business — they’ve been part of the legendary Michigan music scene in the acclaimed jazz-rock combo Vantage Point!, and they’ve toured and collaborated with artists from all over. The Foundry Town Survivors EP is the culmination of all the projects they’ve ever done and the crowning achievement of two lives dedicated to music, storytelling, and compassion. 

Join with the Survivors on a journey through the many worlds of Foundry Town, where past, present, and future merge.