Maybe it’s the typical drummer persona that keeps him under the public radar but, with an astounding resumé, Tom Hambridge is certainly no stranger to his peers. With more than 600 of his songs recorded, dozens of producer and artist credits, and 86 music awards, including 10 Grammy nominations and 4 Grammy wins, Hambridge is the almost-best-kept secret weapon in the business.
His collaborations as writer, producer, and musician would more than fill the space allowed here but just a few of the the greats he’s worked alongside include Buddy Guy, BB King, Roy Buchanan, ZZ Top, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Foghat, Susan Tedeschi, Meat Loaf, George Thorogood, Rascal Flatts, Johnny Winter, Chris Barnes, Billy Ray Cyrus, Joe Bonamassa, John Mayall, Felix Cavaliere, Tommy Castro, Steve Cropper, Devon Allman, and far too many more to mention. In fact, if we merely listed his collaborations and credits, the verbiage would be longer than this article.
In an interview with Blues Rock Review, Hambridge explained how his career exploded from his drummer roots in Buffalo, NY, to the incredibly busy writer, producer, and artist he is today.
A modest and affable professional, Hambridge told us, “The resume credits just add up. I just keep doing it and people hear something about me and then they find out I wrote, produced or played on a certain record and they try to find me. I don’t have a manager but artists talk to other artists.” They can also reach him through his website.
His musical proficiency led him to a scholarship at the prestigious Berklee College of Music but he didn’t stay there long. “By the time I got to Berklee, I had already been playing professionally since I was very young,” he explained. In fact, Hambridge began as a drummer after his brother introduced him to a wide variety of music. He played his first professional gig when he was still in the third grade.
“I just continued that when I got to Berklee. The first thing I did was find a local rock and roll magazine to find out if anyone was looking for a drummer. I auditioned and immediately got a job as a lead singer and drummer in a local band called Eternity,” he recounted.
Hambridge was destined for success at an early age. With matter-of-fact humility, he explained how in his second or third year at Berklee he got an audition with the great Roy Buchanan.
“It was going to interrupt my schooling. I went to my teachers and asked if it was possible to miss four weeks and make it up and they said, ‘No, this is college, you gotta be here.’ They asked why and I said I’ve got a gig with Roy Buchanan and all my professors said, ‘Oh man, just go, take it because that’s what you’re going to school for.’
“It’s strange in the music business,” he began to retell the story. “I was playing in a band and I got a gig to back up a singer and the guy called me to ask if I’d be interested in auditioning as a drummer and singer for Roy Buchanan, and that guy recommended me to a producer. And I thought, Oh my god, I love Roy Buchanan. My older brother had all his records and I loved his stuff. So I was supposed to audition but instead a couple of guys from the band met me at my apartment,” he said, laughing at the memory. “I thought we were gonna play but they just met me and we talked. They said we were going to do a real audition but that never happened so I thought I didn’t get the gig but then a week before they called and said, You’re the guy and we’re going to rehearse. But we never rehearsed. I met Roy as were about to go on stage before the first show of the tour and he said, ‘Hey, how you doing, you’re Tom, the new drummer.’ I asked, What are we gonna play and he answered, ‘What do you wanna play? Then he said, We’ll kick it off and figure it out.’
“We went to New York City the next night and I played with him for years; we became friends,” Hambridge recalled. “I played the last gig he ever played on this earth.”
Hambridge explained how that opened the door for him. “I then got to play with Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley and a lot more of my heroes. I was very fortunate to play drums for them.”
Asked whether he prefers writing, producing or performing he replied, without hesitation, “I like doing it all. I wouldn’t have it any other way. I enjoy all aspects and I wouldn’t be happy to stay in studio as a producer if I didn’t play live or didn’t write songs.”
He went on, “It usually works out because people come to ask me to make their record, they usually want me to write the songs, play drums, arrange the band, arrange the music and record and produce it, mix it, master and record it. So all the things that go into it are the things I love to do. Fortunately, I do all that. I’m not the producer who you call if you have all the songs and all the ideas and all the players and I just sit there and drink coffee and read the paper and say, ‘Yup, play another song.’ I’m in there, I’m playing with everybody. I love being in the trenches.”
Asked if there was anyone he would still like to work with he replied, “I’m sure there are lots of people I would like to play with but, off the top of my head, it would be Paul McCartney. I’m such a big Beatles fan. I got to play with Ringo, and the Stones and many of my heroes. I’ve met Paul but I have so much respect for him and his musicality – he’s changed the world.”
It’s clear Hambridge doesn’t limit himself to one genre of music, either. He explained that saying, “I’m a music-lover. I have a record collection that is miles long. My older brother turned me on to every kind of music. I never thought of myself as a genre specific person. I just write music, I listen to music that I think is fantastic, whether it’s jazz or folk, rock, blues or whatever. It just so happened that many people I worked with – Johnny Winter, Susan Tedeschi, etc, did well in blues, then all of a sudden, BB King asked me to do something, then Buddy Guy, Kenny Neal and Joe Louis Walker. All these hip, legendary blues people started calling. I didn’t change anything; I just wanted to make the best record I could. Whenever they asked me to write, I just wrote songs that I thought that I’d like to hear them sing.”
He recalled how one collaboration began by accident. “Billy Gibbons showed up while I was working on a ballad, called ‘Over You.’ I was writing it for someone else, but Gibbons asked ‘What was that? I like that.’ So it ended up being a big song on one of his records. That’s just another example of the way things happen; good music is just good music.”
Another memorable experience for him was recording James Cotton’s final album.
“He couldn’t sing anymore but he could still play harmonica. So I reached out to my friends to have them sing on the album. I told James, ‘We’ll write songs about your life. Delbert McClinton, Warren Haynes, Greg Allman – all these people came out to sing these songs. But there was one song called Bonny Blue that James really wanted on the album. It’s the name of the plantation where he was raised with his family. We wrote this song together and I told him it’s going to be the last song on the album and you have to sing it. He was reluctant to sing in front of anyone as his voice was almost gone, but I said I have the perfect guy – Colin Linden to help out. Colin is such a beautiful soul, talented producer, artist, and singer. So me, Colin and you will be alone in a room, Colin will play guitar and you’ll sing. James was comfortable with this cat (Colin) – it was a beautiful moment.”
Hambridge also considers himself lucky that his family is supportive and involved.
He told Blues Rock Review, “I’ve been blessed to have my amazing wife Chris, the rock of the family by my side through all the ups and downs of this crazy music career and we have two beautiful and talented daughters Rachel and Sarah. We are extremely proud of them. They both write songs and have unbelievable voices. They have sung live with Buddy Guy and they recently sang on Dolly Parton’s new album.”
Back home now, Hambridge explained that he has just come off the road after a two-year tour playing with Buddy Guy, but he’s far from resting.
“I’m off the road but I’m in the studio making records,” he said. One of his Grammys came from producing 662 for Christone “Kingfish” Ingram and they’re working on a new record. In addition, he just did a “Christmas Kind of Feeling” with Billy J. Kramer that’s on the UK charts. He’s also just finished working with Ally Venable, Jovin Webb and Sonny Gullage. “These people really know music inside and out so it was easy to collaborate and make their records.”
His advice to musicians trying to make it in the business is simple: “If you want to do this it has to be a passion and drive. There are no guarantees. I know many gifted artists that slip through the cracks and don’t get the chance. You just gotta love to do it and keep on doing it. I’ve always thought if you write something and means a lot to people, you play it for five people and they start to cry because it’s wonderful, that’s just as valid as some song on the radio that’s half as good. You have to realize it’s like art – you gotta keep creating and doing your best work.”
He continued, “You have to have an agent or manager that believes in you and wants to get you to the next level. If you play 200-seat clubs every year, year after year, at some point you gotta go to the 1,000-seater down the street and try it out. There won’t be any guarantee of money at the big club but you get whatever you raise, but you take it to that next level. It can be done; Bonamassa did it that way.”
Hambridge still gets out and plays whether it’s as a guest drummer or with his own band, the Rattlesnakes. His latest solo release Blu Ja Vu, received rave reviews.
“I’m trying to stay home for a while but I will be back in (hometown) Buffalo on December 7 to play with the Rattlesnakes at the Sportsmen’s Tavern,” he noted.
“My first paid job was in third-grade about a hundred years ago,” he laughed, “I don’t know how to do anything else. People keep trying to find me and make music for them. I don’t take it lightly when they call. I just want to make the best record I can for them. I don’t have any secret to success. To make good music, you have to believe in yourself and have the passion for it.”
Tom Hambridge Producer Grammys
Buddy Guy – Born to Play Guitar, Grammy Winner
Buddy Guy – The Blues is Alive and Well, Grammy Winner
Buddy Guy – Living Proof, Grammy Winner
Christone “Kingfish” Ingram – 662, Grammy Winner
Kenny Neal – Bloodline, Grammy Nomination
James Cotton – Cotton Mouth Man, Grammy Nomination
Johnny Winter – I’m a Bluesman, Grammy Nomination
Susan Tedeschi – Just Won’t Burn, Grammy Nomination
Buddy Guy – The Blues Don’t Lie, Grammy Nomination
Buddy Guy – Skin Deep, Grammy Nomination
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