The Conch Brothers

The Conch Brothers are comprised of Tom Polacco a.k.a Tommy Conch and Tim Hildebrandt a.k.a. Timmy Conch.   While in Nashville, I met Tom when I was performing on a writer’s night at one of the local clubs.  I was rehearsing a tune and Tom was standing in the corner with his mandolin and started playing along.  Well one thing led to another and we started writing together.  Tom already had some success from having one of his tunes “Reggae Accident” recorded by Jimmy Buffett.  After penning what seemed like hundreds (probably more like twenty)  songs that we were trying to pitch to the Country market, we decided to break out of the mold and started writing songs that had nothing to do with the usual Nashville themes such as  guitars, faded love, bars etc.  What we came up with was what we dubbed Conch music.   We would tackle any subject and musical style—the  more ‘gonzo’ the better.  What resulted was a four song cassette the Conch Brothers “Welcome To Paradise”.  It was recorded on my trusty 4-track Porta-Studio.  We had a couple of girls sing backup who we dubbed the Concubines and my wife Deb played the whistle and cowbell.  Incidentally, my brother Dave a.k.a Von Hilde, a Key West native, did the cassette cover artwork.
I have included an extra bonus cut “Mango Man” that we wrote with our good friend Tony Cannon.
Check it out!