Tom Brown is a freelance percussionist, music educator, and audio engineer, who currently resides in the central coast region of California. Tom grew up not quite in the middle of nowhere, but you could see it from there…his family’s house was an old chicken farm off a dirt road between the railroad tracks and the Salinas river bed. Tom’s childhood involved climbing trees, riding bikes, catching frogs or lizards, and wondering around aimlessly with his dog.

Tom was lucky enough to have compassionate music teachers in his small town which allowed Tom to start playing music in the 4th grade. Tom’s parents generously and patiently bought him a used drum set so Tom could play in the garage all day. Tom had a few lessons at the local music store but was almost entirely self-taught, playing the drums along to his parent’s music collection; Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, Michael Jackson, The Beach Boys, Queen, Marvin Gaye, Cream, The Who, etc.

Tom continued to play marching/concert band repertoire but got the opportunity to join his high school’s Jazz big band during sophomore year. The structured creativity and improvisatory nature of Jazz connected with Tom in a way that he had not experienced with other Western-music styles. Tom started playing Jazz with his friends in the garage after school and discovered a life-long passion for the language of improvisation. Tom graduated top 50 at Atascadero High School (class of 2013).

Tom then went to study music theory, composition, arranging, and recording, at Cuesta Community College in San Luis Obispo. Tom received an AVID Pro-Tools certificate through the recording arts program with acclaimed audio engineer George Stone. Tom performed with nearly every ensemble at Cuesta and can be heard on the music department’s studio albums, Take Flight and Both Sides. In 2015, Tom was the drummer for Cuesta’s original theatre production, Refried Elvis, which won several awards during the production’s tour of the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival in Honolulu, Hawaii. It was at Cuesta College that Tom began playing the vibraphone and would later study with the legendary George Shearing-alum Charlie Shoemake through his non-profit organization, The Central Coast Jazz Institute. Tom graduated with honors from Cuesta College (class of 2017).

Tom then moved down to Los Angeles to further his education at Cal State Northridge (CSUN). During his time in southern California, Tom integrated himself into the music scene as a versatile percussionist; playing timpani for the LA Police Concert Band, playing vibes and auxiliary for the Luis Conte Latin Jazz Ensemble, playing vibes and drums for LA College Jazz Jam at the world-famous Baked Potato, and playing or recording for various artists in LA. Tom was also a “founding teacher” being one the first teachers hired at MozArt Music Academy, which now the largest private music studio in the San Fernando Valley. Tom taught at MozArt for several years throughout his time at university and well into the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2019, the CSUN Jazz “A” band was invited by Wynton Marsalis to perform at the Lincoln Center, in New York City, alongside the top 10 university Jazz ensembles in the United States. Tom graduated magna cum laude from CSUN (class of 2020). 

At the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, Tom relocated from LA back to the Central Coast to continue performing in the outdoors, teaching online through Zoom, and engineering live streams for SLOtalk, a local marketing operation. The artisan percussion company, Marimba One™️, signed Tom as a Discovery Artist in 2021. Tom continued to perform regularly around the Central Coast at coffee shops, restaurants, and wineries with his ensembles the SLO Vibes Trio, Quartet, and Quintet. In 2023, Tom released his debut album as a band leader, Expression of Home. The album also features Charlie Shoemake on vibraphone and Grammy award winning saxophonist Scott Martin. Tom currently serves as the Director of Technology for Unitarian Universalists of San Luis Obispo, maintaining and operating their audio, video, lighting, and network systems. Tom also is an “Artist-in-Residence” at his alma-mater, Atascadero High School, educating on performance style and offering lessons for the Jazz, String, Marching, and Concert band students.

Tom is available for in-person individual or group lessons by appointment, when available. Studio or live sound consultation by appointment, when available. Private event booking at reasonable rates available by request. Local instrument rental and cartage at reasonable rates available by request. Reach out through the contact page with any questions, comments, concerns or kudos.