Tom and Neil had their first gig together in high school as part of "Hootenanny '63" — a touring revue that featured the Jug Band and Tom Rush. Neil went on to fiddle with the Spark Gap Wonder Boys, world champion old-time string band at the Union Grove Fiddlers Convention. Tom and Neil had their first musical reunion during the sessions for Tom's 1976 album on Takoma Records. By then, Neil was a regular member of the David Bromberg Band. Since then, Tom and Neil have gotten together often to play college concerts and coffeehouses.

Neil's love of traditional bluegrass led him to gigs as fiddler with the Yankee Rebels, the Joint Chiefs of Bluegrass and (most recently) as mandolin player with Vermont-based Big Spike Bluegrass. Tom currently plays mandolin, guitar and clawhammer banjo with Big Trout Radio, an acoustic trio that also features Artie Traum and Chris Shaw.

Here are a couple of photos that prove the old French adage "Plus ça change et plus c'est la même chose" ("The more things change, the more they stay the same"). One shows Tom and Neil at the old Towne Crier Cafe, sometime around 1976. The other is from this past summer's concert at the Edwards Opera House. Both shows were on the hottest night of the year--only the cows are different!

Tom and Neil discography: Tom Akstens and Neil Rossi, All Around the Mountain (Snowshoe) Big Spike, Cheatin', Lying, Leavin', Crying (Corduroy Road) Big Spike, A New Day (Corduroy Road) Big Trout Radio, Songs About Fishing (Twining Tree) Tom Akstens, 25th Anniversary Edition (Slice of Life) Tom Akstens, Blue Line Boogaloo (Snowshoe) The Yankee Rebels, The Yankee Rebels (Flying Crow) Spark Gap Wonder Boys, Cluck Old Hen (Rounder) Tom Akstens, Tom Akstens (Takoma) David Bromberg, The Player: David Bromberg Retrospective (Fantasy)

 Tom Akstens plays Elixir strings