Wednesday 30 November 2011

Percussionist and Drummer Tom Roady has died

 Percussionist and Drummer Tom Roady dies before playing for Ricky Skaggs at a South Carolina show

It was with sadness to read that Tom Roady, a longtime master percussionist in Nashville, was found dead on Monday morning (Nov. 28, 2011) in the band's tour bus prior to a planned performance at Clemson University playing drums with Ricky Skaggs in Clemson, S.C. 
Tom Roady Cover Feature
Digital Drummer (Jan 2010)

Tom was doing what he loved the most, being on the road with Ricky Skaggs. Tom went to sleep on the Ricky Skaggs/ White Family Christmas show tour bus heading to South Carolina and passed peacefully away. Pickens County Coroner Kandy Kelley says 62-year-old Thomas Roady of Kingston Springs, Tenn., was found dead Monday morning. The band was pulling into a hotel parking lot in Clemson before a show at the university after driving through the night from Nashville. Roady and Skaggs were on separate buses.

Local coroner Kandy Kelley noted that Roady was battling cancer, but died in his sleep from heart problems, according to The Associated Press. “His big beautiful heart gave out in the end, not the cancer” remarked his wife Melanie (Facebook)

Roady played on Skaggs' latest project, A Skaggs Family Christmas, Volume 2, released this fall. (Tom Toady with Ricky Skaggs on the Tour 2007 - Photo - Photo 2)

He also recorded with Kenny Chesney, the Dixie Chicks, Sara Evans, Vince Gill and Martina McBride, among many others. In addition, he played numerous sessions in Muscle Shoals, Ala., with producer Jerry Wexler and artists like Art Garfunkel, Etta James and Sanford-Townsend Band. (Muscle Shoals Photo 1Photo 2 )
As a master percussionist, Tom toured and recorded with hundreds of major recording artists throughout his long career and his final days were filled with music.

Tom Roady Fact file:

Born - Jan 17, 1949 in Alton, IL
Died - November 27, 2011
Education - Went to Jersey Community High School

Occupation: Studio Percussionist. Studio owner
Company Name: Big Bang Theory Studio

About:
He had been a studio percussionist for over 36 years. (Photo of Tom Toady with Billy Walker Jr. at a CD release) 
Tom-Roady !!! – The Nerve


Tom Roady grew up in the St.Louis area and continued to visit old friends. He played with Phil Driscoll in 1972-73 and through that liaison he met Charlie Chalmers, an original member of the
Memphis Horns. Tom began recording at this time in Memphis and eventually Chalmers suggested the idea of moving to Muscle Shoals to get more work. Tom worked at the Fame recording studios working with artists like Mac Davis, Tom Jones, Candi Staton, and Paul Anka.

Making friends and contacts with the team at Muscle Shoals Sound it resulted in Tom being chosen to record with a vast array of different artists from Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel (Watermark album in 1977) to Mavis and Pops Staples (Unlock Your Mind 1978) to The Sanford Townsend Band. A personal highlight for Roady was the opportunity to work with the late Hall Of Fame inductee Jerry Wexler on many different artists’ projects through the years. Wexler was a music journalist turned music producer, and was regarded as one of the major record industry players behind music from the 1950s through the 1980s. He coined the term "rhythm and blues", and was integral in signing and/or producing many of the biggest acts of the last 50 years. Jerry Wexler was one of the most highly-regarded A&R men in popular music history.

In 1978 Tom moved to Los Angeles while working on the road with Paul Anka. While living in L.A. Tom played with Don Randi and Quest, the house band at the Baked Potato in North Hollywood.

Tom Roady toured with many artists like
James Taylor (See photo Telluride 1990 ); John Denver, Ricky Skaggs, The Fifth Dimension and Paul Anka., and he played several gigs with Aretha Franklin in recent years.

Roady played on numerous R&B, Folk, Bluegrass, Jazz, Rock, and Country multi-platinum recordings, many of which were nominated and won Grammy Awards, CMA Awards, IBMA and ACM Awards.


R&B artists include: Percy Sledge, Wilson Pickett, Mavis Staples, Etta James and Delbert McClinton.
Rock and Pop acts include: Michael McDonald (Blue Obsession 1997), Andy Gibb, Art Garfunkel, Paul Simon, Pure Prairie League, Dr. Hook, Emmylou Harris, Bob Seger, Beth Nielsen Chapman, Mac McAnally, Joan Baez, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Tom Jones, Donovan, etc.

Bluegrass and Americana artists include: Ricky Skaggs, Sam Bush, Bela Fleck, The Grascals, Rhonda Vincent, Maura O'Conell, Sally Fingerett, Kathy Mattea, Robert Lee Castleman, Darryl Scott and Suzy Ragsdale etc

Country acts include: The Dixie Chicks, Vince Gill, Kenny Chesney, Alabama, Brooks and Dunn,Martina McBride, Trisha Yearwood, Chris Ledoux, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Sara Evans, Tom T. Hall, Randy Travis, Trick Pony, Reba McEntire, Pam Tillis, Tanya Tucker, Hank Williams Jr., Dan Seals, Suzy Bogguss, K.T.Oslin, Kenny Rogers, Lee Ann Womack, Chely Wright, Clay Walker, T.Graham Brown, Mark Chestnut, Randy Scruggs, Tracy Byrd, Bryan White, Steve Wariner ,Jo Dee Messina, Lonestar, Ricochet and Lee Roy Parnell.

Tom also recorded on songwriters projects from time to time in his home studio.

Tom is survived by his loving wife, Melanie (photo), 2 stepsons, three Granddaughters and many friends
The funeral services will be held on Sunday, December 4, at 3:00pm in Nashville TN.
Sincerely condolences go out to his wife, family and friends.

VIDEO – Tom Roady Mel Bay Artist Interview with Erica Cantrell.
Tom teaches Mel Bay Pro licks and techniques: Watch on YouTube

Tom’s legacy is his contribution on many of the top recordings many of which are my personal favourites – Thank you!

Livewire

SOURCES – Associated Press, CMT, Nashville Music Pros, Facebook  

These are his credits in the Country music world.
Check out your LP and CD sleeves and credits:

Artist
Album
Year
Credit
Alabama
When It All Goes South
2001
Percussion
Alecia Elliott
I’m Diggin’ It
2000
Percussion
Becky Hobbs
Becky Hobbs
1974
Percussion, conga
Beth Nielsen Chapman
Self Titled
1990
Percussion
Beth Nielsen Chapman
You Hold The Key
1993
Percussion
Brent Mason
Hot Wired
1997
Percussion
Brooks & Dunn
Borderline
1996
Percussion
Chely Wright
Let Me In
1997
Percussion
Chet Atkins
Simpatico
1994
Percussion
Chris LeDoux
One Road Man
1998
Percussion
Clay Walker
Live, Laugh  Love
1999
Percussion
Clay Walker
Rumor Has It
1997
Percussion
Collin Raye
I Think About You
1995
Percussion
Confederate Railroad
Notorious
1994
Percussion
Crystal Gayle
Cage The Songbird
2008
Percussion
Dan Seals
In A Quiet Room II
1998
Percussion
David Ball
Play
1999
Percussion
Dixie Chicks
Fly
1999
Percussion
Dixie Chicks
Wide Open Spaces
1998
Conga,shakuhachi,
shaker,Tambourine
Emmylou Harris
Ballad Of Sally Rose
1985
Percussion
Gary Allan
It Would Be You
1998
Percussion
Hank Williams Jnr
Out Of Left Field
1993
Percussion
Ilse Delange
Livin’ On Love
2001
Percussion
Jenny Simpson
Jenny Simpson
1998
Chimes, Tambourine
Jo Dee Messina
Jo Dee Messina/I’m Alright
1996
Percussion, Musician
Jo Dee Messina
Joyful Noise
2002
Percussion
K.T.Oslin
My Roots Are Showing
1996
Percussion
Kathy Mattea
Time Passes By
1991
Percussion
Kathy Mattea
Walking Away A Winner
1993
Percussion
Kenny Chesney
Be As You Are
(Songs from an Old Blue Chair)
2005
Percussion
Kenny Chesney
When The Sun Goes Down
2004
Percussion,
Steel drums
Kenny Rogers
Across My Heart
1997
Percussion
Lee Ann Womack
Lee Ann Womack
1997
Percussion
Lee Roy Parnell
Tell The Truth
2001
Percussion
Lorrie Morgan
Watch Me
1992
Percussion
Mark Chesnutt
I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing
1999
Percussion
Martina McBride
Emotion
1999
Percussion
Martina McBride
Evolution
1997
Percussion, conga,
shaker, tambourine
Martina McBride
Martina
2003
Percussion
Martina McBride
Timeless
2011
Percussion
Mary Chapin Carpenter
The Essential
2003
Percussion
Melonie Cannon
Melonie Cannon
2004
Percussion
Merle Haggard
5:01 Blues
1989
Percussion
Michael McDonald
Blue Obsession
1997
Percussion
Michelle Wright
For Me It’s You
1996
Percussion
Neal McCoy
Life of the Party
1999
Percussion
Pam Tillis
All Of This Love
1995
Percussion
Randy Travis
No Holdin’ Back
1989
Percussion
Randy Travis
This Is Me
1994
Percussion
Rhett Atkins
Somebody New
1996
Percussion
Rhonda Vincent
All American Bluegrass Girl
2006
Percussion
Rhonda Vincent
Beautiful Star: The Christmas Collection
2006
Percussion, Bells
Rhonda Vincent
Good Thing Going
2008
Percussion
Ricky Skaggs
My Father’s Son
1991
Percussion
Ricky Skaggs
Skaggs Family Christmas
2005
Percussion
Ricky Skaggs
Skaggs Family Christmas Vol 2
2011
Percussion
Ronnie Milsap
Heart & Soul
1987
Percussion
Sara Evans
Born To Fly/ Restless
2008
Percussion
Sherrie Austin
Love In The Real World
1999
Percussion
Steve Wariner
Faith In You
2000
Percussion
Susie Luchsinger
Raised On Faith
1999
Percussion
Suzy Bogguss
Aces
1991
Percussion
Suzy Bogguss
Give Me Some Wheels
1996
Percussion
Suzy Bogguss
Something Up My Sleeve
1993
Percussion
Suzy Bogguss
Sweet Danger
2007
Percussion
Suzy Bogguss
Voices In The Wind
1992
Percussion
Tammy Wynette
Without Walls
1994
Percussion
Tanya Tucker
Can’t Run From Yourself
1992
Percussion
The Grascals
Grascals
2005
Percussion
Tom T.Hall
Home Grown
1997
Multi Instruments
Trick Pony
Tick Pony
2001
Percussion
Trisha Yearwood
Everybody Knows
1996
Tambourine
Trisha Yearwood
Real Live Woman
2000
Percussion, Triangle, Tambourine
Trisha Yearwood
Thinkin’ About You
1995
Bongos, Conga,
Tambourine
Ty Herndon
Big Hopes
1998
Percussion
Ty Herndon
Living In A Moment
1996
Percussion
Various
Horse Whisperer [Original Soundtrack]
1998
Percussion
Vince Gill
When Loves Finds You
1994
Percussion
Wynnona Judd
Other Side
1997
Percussion
Wynnona Judd
Revelations
1996
Percussion



Find more photos like this on Nashville Music Pros