Born in Paris – Paris, Tennessee, that is – Tom Lonardo has been a drummer and drum educator for most of his life. Coming from a musical family – his father was a bass player and owner of a music store, the largely self-taught drummer has a bachelors and masters of music from the University of Mississippi and studied with the great Alan Dawson at Berekely. He was inducted into the Ole Miss Jazz Hall of Fame in 1991 and received the “Life Time Achievement Award” from The Memphis Musical Heritage Foundation in 2011.
Famous – or is that infamous – for his role in The Dog Police (check it out on YouTube), Tom still keeps a very active calendar, playing six nights per week. After discussing his own unique path to the drums, Tom opens up about his drum philosophy and shares advice for new and returning drummers on keeping time and playing unisons. Seeing the drums as “a place of peace” that drummers should approach fearlessly, Tom is incredibly inspiring and I consider this one of the “must listen to” interviews.
For more information on Tom, visit tomlonardo.com
Also, check him out in a very brief but incredibly cool interview, Groovin’ in Memphis with Tom Lonardo, that Tom did with Chris Bounds at Memphis Drum Shop
And watch Tom in action with blues pianist/vocalist Di Anne Price and bassist Tim Goodwin
Contraption 