Thomas Michael Hamrick Born August 7th, 1958 (Year of the Dog) to Jack and Alice Hamrick in Morgantown, West Virginia. Nicknamed "Dusty" later in life in the military (United States Army Bomb Squad)(Explosive Ordnance Disposal). Tommys father was the band director for the University High School Band and his mother was a secretary for the WVU School of Law. Music was a constant part of Tommys life. "My Dad has been a band director throughout his entire career. So.... you know, is it any wonder that my 1st toy, in the crib, was a trombone mouthpiece? Dad loves to tell that story." Starting out as a drummer in Junior High, he played his 1st gig at 15 years old and gave the $50 to his father. That was just the beginning though as more bands followed. Tommy took up the guitar as a main instrument just before entering the Army at 18 years old ("tattoos from everywhere"). "The 1st guitar I ever broke on purpose was in Korea, a 12 string acoustic, that I was playing when they gave me orders for 2nd Division on the DMZ. Hate it when that happens...." Recalled for Desert Storm T was assigned back to 18th Ordnance Detachment(Explosive Ordnance Disposal), Fort Bragg, NC then did 16 months in Kuwait. He was medically retired after returning from the sand. T is now working on a couple of EOD related projects for future Homeland Security use. Tommy is a proud 100% Disabled American Veteran. "The first records that I can remember were Maynard Ferguson, The Dave Brubeck Quartet, The Dave Clark Five, and Meet The Beatles." In February 2005 Tommy was inducted into the West Virginia Blues Society.... Just this year he joined The West Virginia Blues Society also. T is also a proud member and supporter of The Black Label Society.You can check out a couple of our recordings at RateOurBand.com
http://www.rateourband.com/r6/index.cfm?band_id=3156Tommys three main instruments are a butterscotch/woodgrained Fender Custom Shop Stratocaster, a daphne blue Fender Strat with a lefty neck, and a Tokai V headstock Explorer. The Custom Shop strat was Rick Derringers number one road axe for over 10 years and was used on stage, in sessions, and recording. It is featured on the cover of Ricks "Jackhammer Blues" CD (and pictured on the CD itself).. Though asked many times how he got it Tommy will only say " Well, Rick, Mr. Derringer, gave me that one.. though he did wind up with a beautiful '56 Les Paul Jr. that I gave him for his birthday.. He likes P90's". Tommy has two other strats that were owned by Rick. A black one (named Ying) and a white one (named Yang) that were backup guitars of Rick's and one of his old Peavey Classic 50 watt tweed amps (with the DERRINGER road cases!!!!). T's motto is "Nothing sounds better than a tortured stratocaster".
www.hostdrjack.comTommy lists his influences as Rick Derringer (of course), Tommy Bolin, Jimmy Hendrix, Steve Marriott, Rory Gallagher,The Beatles, BB and Albert King, Alvin Lee, Buddy Guy, Eric Clapton (I understand we're neighbors now. He's supposed to be living in Ohio somewhere....), the unmistakable Reverend Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, Sonny Landreth,Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood, Bo Diddley, and Roy Clark.... You can find our home page at....http://www.tommystriplethreatbluesrevue.com/BandPage.h
tmlTommys new CD "Blues Matters" is set for release in June 2007..... so stay tuned.... How blue can You get? EM Tommy at [email protected] Charleston Blues Society
West Virginia Blues Society
Black Label Society"Blues IS my religion"Muddy WatersTommy performs about every Sunday at The Pour House in Dunbar West Virginia with The Pour House Crew... We hope to see you there soon.....
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