Liz Younger – lead vocals, things that shake and otherwise go bump in the night
Chris Younger – guitar, harmonica, vocals, mandolin, rhythm machine
Rob Fedorczyk – slide, guitar(acoustic/electric), mandolin
Jim Thompson - Upright Bass
Chris
Chris's infatuation with the guitar began in his early teens, inspired by the guitar slingers of the era, such as Alex Lifeson, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck to name a few.
After playing in a series of garage bands in high school, Chris eventually founded a successful cover band RoundTrip, and played the thriving regional bar circuit for many years. Eventually those pesky sub-conscious thoughts about getting a real job led to the proverbial fork in the road and Chris quit the band to persue more schooling and a career. With the demands of career and family limiting his time Chris spent spare moments playing acoustic guitar, and became enthralled with the alternating bass, finger style playing of Mississipi John Hurt, Merle Travis, Doc Watson, and Roy Book Binder. He also started dabbling in mandolin and harmonica.
With a renewed passion for acoustic music, Chris innocently asked his wife Liz to add some vocals to a song, and the rest, as they say, is history. The Chris and Liz duo kept it low key for several years, performing at parties and small events. Warming up at a festival for their friend, Tom, the headline act, the Emcee asked them their name. Taken by surprise since they had never formalized a real name, they blurted out, we're "Friends of Tom", and the name stuck.
Rob joined the line-up around the summer ’05, giving a fuller sound to the songs and allowing more versatility with arrangements. Soon after, FOT was booking regular gigs.
Liz
Liz grew up with the sounds of country music and bluegrass blaring through the home stereo by music-loving parents. Then her older brothers introduced her to the 70’s rock sound. Her musical education came full circle when she met up with fellow musician, Chris Younger whose influence led to the formation of Friends of Tom. These musical roots subtly reveal themselves in her song interpretations where an occasional twang can be heard mixed in with her powerful soulful vocals.
Liz is a classically trained vocalist, a student of several local vocal coaches, and is currently collaborating on original songs.
Rob
Rob is from Easton PA and plays dobro slide, acoustic and electric guitar, and mandolin. He also adds sundry rhythm reverberations, known to bang on his metal dobro or stomp a tambourine with his foot.
Recognized as the “embellisher”, Rob adds that extra special touch that is needed to make a song better. A blues enthusiast at heart, Rob’s blues influence can be clearly heard in FOT’s repertoire. Rob is the founding co-host of the Sitgreaves’ coffeehouse, a monthly open-mic at the Trinity Episcopal Church in downtown Easton. Rob also does double duty performing with the band Glass Roses.
Rob’s recording credentials includes the Glass Roses debut CD “Falling Wings”, and a guest appearance on the Daybreak CD “Lost Cave”, recorded deep within the Lost River Caverns in Hellertown PA.
Jim
Jim's got music in his blood, literally, with his father being a professional jazz musician. Jim was encouraged at an early age to pursue a "real" instrument, but the bass is what caught his interest the most. Jim played in various cover bands playing the bar circuit in Pittsburgh PA, and currently, in addition to "Friends of Tom", expands his repertoire with various ensembles. The foray into upright bass brought new challenges and opportunities, and adds the perfert vibe and texture to the Americana sounds of "Friends of Tom". |
