“I feel like I’m in a documentary on Americana Music” says Art Luna of Luna’s Café.  Folk with a little traditional country loving and leaving  and the occasional acoustic rocker,  Tamara Phelan’s music captures the nuggets of human experience that make us all feel connected.  Says northern California guitarist Jim Nunally: “Tamara’s songs convey stories with true meaning, capturing an in depth look at life from the vantage point of experience”. 

While many of Tamara’s songs are clearly the heartfelt compositions of a native Californian raised on folk music, others with a more traditional country feel hint at the years Tamara lived in Nashville, Tennessee.   Of that time Tamara says "People ask me just what I did in Nashville.  I'll tell you what I did, I watched and learned.  I had the fortunate opportunity to hang around with many talented and accomplished musicians and I shut up and listened.  It was the best musical education you could ever hope to acquire.  Every day I learn a little more about the depth and breadth of that experience”. 

That depth and breadth is reflected in the sometimes simple sounding but musically complex arrangements and harmonies in Tamara’s songs, which cut across the entire Americana spectrum.  “I've known Tamara Phelan for decades, and while she has always been deeply engaged in music -- picking, and especially singing -- her recent emergence as a songwriter shows her real talent,” says multi-instrumentalist and performer Kathy Barwick.  Tamara plays the tenor guitar, and in live performance will play solo but most often appears with Steve McLane and Ken Rabiroff as the Tamara Phelan Trio.