HOME American Zen

Shaolin Records

Tom reminds us all not to take life too seriously.

Nothing seems to bother him- -ever. If it wasn't for us, he'd probably spend his entire life surfing and horndogging.

We just had a major discussion on how to spell 'horndogging.
'Hey, that's us. We're all poets in this band, one way or another.
If what we want doesn't exist, we create it.

Tom's the halfway point between me and Steve (you know, the drummer).
He's got incredible timing, solid rhythms, and cool melodies that never interfere with anyone and always fatten up the song.

He's always looking for what's right for the song, not his own ego.

And that ancient Ricky of his! Wow. I can't say enough how much I love his old bass.
It's an old 1959 Rickenbacker that the Rickenbacker factory told us was custom built for someone with an avocado green finish.

The white pickguard was so old and yellowed and cracked up that Tom had to make a new one himself, which is even cooler. He used smoked acrylic mirror!

Oh yeah, the treble pickup was one of Rickenbacker's super ancient first pickups with the magnets ON TOP OF THE BASS STRINGS.
Unfortunately, the magnets were so old and weak, we replaced them with a new Ricky pickup.

If I could be anyone else, I'd wanna be Tom.
He's never complaining, except when the surf sucks, and he always has at least three girlfriends.

Yep, Coyote's our leader, but Tom's our horndogging mascot.

Sincerely,
RoryG, Guitarist of American Zen