TOM RASELY
Tom Rasely began playing the guitar in 1964, shortly after the Beatles hit the American music scene. Tom had a vast training in music theory, studied music at Onondaga Community College in Syracuse, NY, and received a Bachelor of Music Ed from SUNY Fredonia ('73). Probably the most influential musician in Tom's life was his father, Charles W. Rasely. A Juilliard School graduate ('42), Charles was a teacher, singer, composer, pianist, violinist, and conductor. He was a man who lived and breathed music. Other "mentors" include Donald B. Miller and Phil Klein. As a teacher, Tom has taught thousands of players: at his private studio, at the NPM Guitar Schools across the country, as Director of the Norwich Guitar School, and at the National Guitar Workshop in Connecticut. Two of Tom's songs were featured in Fingerstyle Guitar Magazine: "Innuendo" in Issue #61, "La Valse" in Issue #64, and his arrangement of "Jupiter" (by Gustav Holst) in Fingerstyle Guitar Journal online. Tom has written several guitar instruction books, including the "Chord Chart Guitar Method" (self-published), "Stuck in a Rut" [Emergency Road Service for Guitarists and Other Musicians (Amazon e-book), and "Types and Uses of the Capo" (Mel Bay Publications). As a performer, Tom has toured 26 states and parts of Canada and has performed twice at the White House for the Christmas VIP tours. His live gigs also include basic blues seminars and a variety of background music venues. His concerts often include unique audience-participation improv, original music, as well as many familiar melodies. As a recording artist, Tom has appeared on over 80 recording projects, many featuring his original music. Tom also plays most of his own keyboard parts and quite a bit of auxiliary percussion on his recordings.