Reader Spotlight: 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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Is he a clone of Jeff Berlin?
What a great resource for transcriptions! Definitely worth a beer.