Reader Spotlight: Tom Read

Tom Read

Meet Tom Read, a bassist who got his start on the instrument at the age of 8, starting playing professionally at 16, then later took a break to teach math and raise his family. Thankfully, Tom returned to the instrument, with a lot of success.

Tom is this week’s No Treble reader in the spotlight (you could be next). Here’s his story…

Bio:

I’ve been a pro session bass player since I was 16 years old, with a quarter-century gap while I worked as a high school math teacher and raised a family. I came back to the music industry in my mid-40s and toured with Joe Longthorne, Steve Ellis, Rose Marie, Mindbenders, Platters, and many more. Meanwhile, I have been developing my website, which has become the biggest free resource of online accurate bass transcription (in standard notation) on the planet.

Location:

Macclesfield, England (UK)

Years experience:

43 years (since I was 8 years old).

Why I play the bass:

My dad (a bandleader) told me to!

Gear:

  • 1988 Fender Jazz Bass
  • Mark Bass amplification
  • Valeton Dapper pedal board
  • Sfarzo strings

My Influences:

My dad.

Jaco Pastorius, Leonid Vorobyev, Ron Carter, Simon Goulding, Bernard Edwards, Geddy Lee.

My bass superpower/claim to fame:

I am the creator and author of the world’s biggest free collection of accurate bass notation!

More on the web:

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Share your thoughts

  1. Djamba O'Connor

    Is he a clone of Jeff Berlin?

  2. Steve

    What a great resource for transcriptions! Definitely worth a beer.