Tom Clark & the High Action Boys at the Treehouse at 2A

The son of a drummer father in DeKalb, Illinois, a small town about an hour through the corn fields west of Chicago, a 12-year-old Tom Clark bought his first guitar at a garage sale for three dollars. He played in bands by age 13, and in college played bass and then guitar in a punk band called Blatant Dissent. In 1986, tired of working in the corn fields and in the produce section of a food store, Clark moved to New York City. Clark played in the parks and on the sidewalks of Greenwich Village by day and in Irish bars in the Bronx at night. Sometimes he played with his new friend Hank Wedel and his band Open Kitchen. Tom Clark & the High Action Boys recorded one album, 2002's Cross-Eyed and Bow-Legged, and more recently perform rather regularly at the Treehouse at 2A.

Tom Clark curates a concert series every Sunday at the Treehouse at 2A, and once the bands he books finish their sets, he usually concludes the night by joining members of the last band (and sometimes members of the audience) for a half hour of impromptu rock and roll and country covers. On this night, Clark played with his own band, the High Action Boys, allowing him to showcase many of his original songs rather than just covers. While his later cover set with opening act Hank Wedel was a fun fest, Clark & the High Action Boys shined more brightly as he sang the songs he penned. Some of the songs were sentimental, but the more gripping lyrics were the humorous twists ("if that's country music, I want to know what country it's from"). Regardless of who the headliner is, Sunday nights at the Treehouse are a guaranteed roots rock and roll party.