Biography
Tom was introduced to the local folk scene while in high school by attending a
Ceilidh (folk jam) hosted by Mark Ryer, co-founder of the South Shore Folk Music
Club, at the Duxbury Free Library. Here he was turned on to traditional music,
as well as the songs of Michael Smith, Gordon Bok, and other contemporary folk
musicians.
He wrote his first song at age thirteen, and continued to
dabble in songwriting into his early twenties. Tom's first love was a circa 1960
Gibson Country Western guitar with "the sweetest neck" he'd ever run his fingers
over.
For the next 15 years he turned his attentions to home and hearth,
marrying his childhood sweetheart (and songwriting inspiration) and being a dad
to his three sons.
Tom returned to the local folk scene after attending
the 1997 Summer Acoustic Music Week (SAMW) sponsored by WUMB: Folk Radio 91.9FM. This
remarkable camp reawakened his inner musician, and he returned for the next
seven years. There he was exposed to the incredible instrumental talents of
David Surrette, Bennett Hammond, Joel Mabus; the inspirational songwriting
talents of Bob Franke, Linda Waterfall, Kate Campbell, and Holly Tashian; and
vocal training by Freyda Epstein and Charles Williams. SAMW spawned a song
writing group that evolved to a performing group called "Safety in Numbers",
which became "New England
Weather".
Most recently, Tom has been performing as a solo act in the metro Boston area, as well as at supporting and playing at virtual open mics (VOMs) since the beginning of the pandemic.