A good friend of mine, and one of our guest artists at Leyland Accordion Club, Tom Cowing died recently. On Monday I travelled over to Whitley Chapel near Hexham (Where Tom lived) for his funeral. Tom had been suffering for quite a while with cancer and had fought it off once. The funeral was held at a small church where he used to set up his accordion and amplifiers and play for the Sunday service. It was a great service and the church was packed.

I asked Walter Perrie (Who was also at the funeral) to write some information about Tom for this newsletter because Walter had toured with Tom quite a lot and the pair went back a long way together…

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“I first met Tom in the early 1980's when he drove all the way from Hexham to Fallin (near Stirling) to have a rehearsal for my first appearance as Guest artist at the Tyndale accordion club. That was typical of Tom preparing to make sure all went well on the night - which was a very memorable concert - in great part due to Tom's wonderful accompaniment. 
 

My dad and Uncle Gilbert were both there having driven me down to Hexham. I would say that there were over 250 people there on that evening at the club and wonderful atmosphere. 
 

Afterwords, we were invited to Tom's house where we met Tom's mum (Marjorie) and dad (Blakey). We were treated to supper and no doubt the whiskey was out - (not for me haha). Tom's parent were remarkable people - I think it was Tom's dad that encouraged him to play Scottish traditional music and as you know, he played it very well indeed.
 

Tom's parents both came, I believe from farming backgrounds.
 

Marjorie was nursing during the WW2 dealing with men not only physically but also mentally scarred by their experiences. She rose to become Matron at a local hospital (Hexham General?) and she had a wonderful mind, very sharp - and on my visits to Hexham, she recounted many interesting stories (often amusing) to me on her experiences in the Hospital. I always looked forward to meeting her. She knew every one of her patients by name!

Unfortunately, I met Blakey only once following the Hexham concert - he died before I could meet him again, a great pity but I got to know Mrs. Cowing (as I always called her) over many years. 
 

Tom, I believe started accordion quite early, perhaps aged 10, I don't know who was his accordion teacher, he was given great encouragement by his parents. As his technique and experience grew, he played many concerts locally in and around Hexham. He formed a band playing for weddings and functions and was often heard in the Queen's hall in Hexham. 
 

Tom instigated and created the Tyndale accordion club so the founding member, quite an achievement - and he and I played there together several times over the years
 

Tom and I toured Scotland in 2000 and in 2010 - with about 10 dates in accordion clubs over 2 weeks on each tour. These included eg Thurso, Wick, Aberdeen, Stirling, Falkirk, Campbeltown, Carlisle, Edinburgh........etc so east to west coast! They also played at Leyland Accordion Club several times and also at Stockport. Tom had rarely been to Scotland so these tours were a revelation to him. 
 

After the 2010 tour we came to visit David Batty at Leyland to record a CD on his home studio setup. 
 

Tom paid me a wonderful compliment recently - that these tours were the pinnacle of his musical career - I was really taken aback by that comment and humbled. He was, as you know , a very fine accordionist. 
 

His illness appeared about 20 years ago and he was successfully treated in Newcastle General every day for some months. This appeared to destroy the Prostate cancer  bit by bit - so extended his life and quality of life greatly. Unfortunately, it returned last year. 
 

Tom knew Jimmy Shand well and often spoke to him. There was mutual admiration there. Tom' s repertoire was unusual, and he played some very interesting music now forgotten (or unknown) by younger players. 
 

Tom was also very technical, and time served engineer - and maintained electro-mechanical machines for his Company - so clocking in/clocking out devices - and repairing clocks for many friends - including a grandfather clock for me. “

Walter Perrie

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I enjoyed many phone calls with Tom over the years talking about engineering, clocks, mechanical things etc. and I enjoyed hearing him playing at the club.
 

I know that many of you met or knew Tom. I hope you found the above information interesting. I have included links below of a video of Tom playing with Walter and two videos of Tom playing with Cynthia. 

David Batty

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzU8rLCjX-s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9g8-zfidEqU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyuCY7DsF2c