Tom is a native of Buffalo, N.Y., where he received a degree from SUNY in music and political science. In Buffalo, he was a founding member of Spyro Gyra, playing on their first record, including the hit Shaker Song. He moved to Los Angeles as a member of the smash pop group America, and toured with them for the next several years. Since then, Tom has become a fixture on the L.A. studio scene.
Tom has performed or recorded with numerous artists, including Joe Cocker, Supertramp,Tina Turner, Keiko Matsui, the Rippingtons, Grant Geissman,Michael MacDonald,John Waite, Henry Mancini,Helen Reddy, Engelbert, Patti LaBelle, Monica, Rod Stewart, Michael Buble, Don Felder, and, as a member of various house orchestras, could list just about every major star on the scene. Recently, Tom has been performing with Dennis Quaid’s band, the Sharks, involving TV and live performances around the globe.
Tom’s recording career has included countless movie,TV soundtracks, and jingles. He played drums on the three longest running TV themes; Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy, and America’s Funniest Home Videos. Other shows include Friends, MadMen,the Office etc. Tom is also a member of the in house orchestra for Hal Leonard publishing, which entails recording myriad types of musical projects for worldwide distribution. Some of those include a live recording with Izzy Chait at the Jazz Bakery, performances with Katey Sagal, Vicki Lewis, Sharon Lawrence, Peter Gallagher, and others in a presentation of Damn Yankees(Georgia Stitt MD). Tom recently performed live at Carnegie hall, in a trio performing music from the creator of Family Guy, Seth MacFarlane.
Recent projects includes record dates with John Batdorf, Robyn Spangler, Pat Marshall, Susan Egan and Georgia Stitt, Power Jazz, Emilio Palame, as well as the usual pallette of session work, including Disney Tokyo’s electric parade, and the current State Farm, and Miller lite campaigns.
Tom has reconnected recently with Helen Reddy, and will be doing dates with her across the country over the next few months.
Tom lives in West Hills, Ca. and is a proud endorser of Paiste Cymbals, Vic Firth sticks, Remo Heads and Headhunters Creations