The Early Years

rockin-tom was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA in 1957. As young as three years of age, he quickly demonstrated the need, and ability, to entertain by winning a silver dollar in a local twist contest. Three short years later, like many others of his generation, he was introduced to the electric guitar and rock n roll in a big way one Sunday evening. You guessed it - The Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show. rockin-tom would regularly ask parental permission to stay up late on Sunday evenings to watch other domestic and British acts such as The Rolling Stones, Paul Revere and the Raiders, Herman's Hermits, The Animals, Peter and Gordon, and many more. rockin-tom was hooked. He thought to himself that the guitar would be an excellent instrument to learn how to play. Two years later, thanks to his older brother shelling out $15, he received his first guitar, a Kay nylon string, which he still has today.

At age eight, rockin-tom had begun Alfred's Basic Guitar Method with his cousin who had already been playing in a top forty band. By age 10, rockin-tom had completed book 6 and graduated from Alfred's Basic Guitar Method. He was an instant hit with the relatives at parties. On Top of Old Smokey and The Yellow Rose of Texas were his most requested songs, and being a natural crowd pleaser he played them even if it didn't sound like the Beatles or the Rolling Stones. Additionally, rockin-tom had been listening to the radio and spinning 45 RPM records from the time he could hear. The exposure to the many genres that radio offered at the time, engrained a sense of versatility and tolerance for different styles into this young wonder, providing the opportunity to view the guitar as an instrument for entertaining.

rockin-tom's later youth was spent learning top 40 hits by listening to the radio. It was during this period, his ear had been developed to be a quick learner. He formed his 1st band in 8th grade and named it The Fortunate Son's, after the Creedence Clearwater Revival song. The bass player in The Fortunate Sons had a twofold reason for often not making it to practice; he had to do the evening dishes, and more important, he owned no bass guitar or amplifier. The band had two drummers because choosing one drummer between the two was a difficult managerial decision for a rockin' 8th grader. The following year he teamed up with some junior high school friends and played his first paying job. The pass of the hat at the drummer's neighbor's party had yielded $9.00 per band member. Throughout senior high school, rockin-tom listened intently to some of the less popular British bands that incorporated syncopation and unusual rhythms into their music. Popular bands of the era were also his favorites, especially Yes and their master guitarist, Steve Howe. After high school he briefly majored in music where he had taken classical guitar lessons. After switching his major to engineering, he had taken jazz lessons having been influenced by guitarists like Lee Ritenour, Larry Carlton, and Pat Metheny.

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