Tommy Stewart
Encyclopedia
Tommy Stewart is an American rock
drummer
, currently for the rock band Lo-Pro
. He is probably best known for his stint with heavy metal band Godsmack
. He has also toured and recorded with a number of other bands including Detroit based metal band Halloween
"The Heavy Metal Horror Show", glam rock
band Lillian Axe
, and alternative rock bands Fuel
and Everclear
.
In 1984 he graduated from Ainsworth High School (now Carman-Ainsworth High) in Flint.
Tommy (then known as Tommy Scott Stewart) joined Halloween in 1989, and recorded "The Vicious Demo" (also known as "Vicious Demonstration") which was first released on cassette in 1990, and was sold at their shows. The tracks were later released as "bonus tracks" on the band's remastered 2001 release No One Gets Out (reissued by Molten Metal U.S.A.). He left the band in 1990.
In 1993 he joined glam rock band Lillian Axe
and played on their 1993 release Psychoschizophrenia
. The band went on hiatus in mid-1990s after their Psychoschizophrenia tour, and band members started various sideprojects, one being The Bridge by then vocalist Ron Taylor where Tommy played drums on most of the cd.
Stewart was the original drummer of Godsmack
. He had met the Godsmack frontman Sully Erna
when he was playing in Lillian Axe and Sully was touring with his previous band Strip Mind. He joined Godsmack in 1995, left briefly, and returned in 1998 just before the band's debut album came out. He played with them for two multi-platinum selling albums, Godsmack
and Awake
. He co-wrote the single "Bad Religion
" for the band's self-titled debut album with Sully Erna. Stewart also plays on the Godsmack single "I Stand Alone
" which was first released on the Scorpion King
soundtrack in 2002 and later appeared on the band's third studio album Faceless after his departure. He left the band in 2002 due to personal differences. The break-up has been described as amicable, but Erna, a drummer himself, who wrote the majority of drum parts and also recorded the drums on the debut album, admits that "I had a very set vision on where I wanted to go with music and after a while, in his defense, it just wore on him having no input in the band".
After leaving Godsmack Stewart briefly joined ex-Van Halen and Extreme vocalist Gary Cherone's
band Tribe of Judah
as touring drummer.
In 2002 he joined vocalist Pete Murray and guitarist
Neil Godfrey from Ultraspank
to form Lo-Pro
. Lo-Pro was signed to Staind
and Aaron Lewis
's record label 413 Records (a subsidiary of Geffen Records
), but the band was dropped after one album.
In January 2005 he played drums on the CD Ain't No Good Life by Rusty Wright Blues. The CD was released in August 2006 and it features 13 songs in a blues/southern rock style. Tommy and Rusty were old band mates from much earlier projects, but this was the first time doing the blues genre. Tommy does casual dates with Rusty Wright as guest drummer.
With little activity by Lo-Pro after touring behind their debut album, Stewart did some shows with Pennsylvania-based alternative rock band Fuel
as a replacement drummer in mid-2005 after the band parted ways with their longtime drummer Kevin Miller. He also helped guitarist and chief songwriter Carl Bell
and bassist Jeff Abercrombie audition singers after Brett Scallions' departure in 2006. Stewart was unable to participate in the recording of the Fuel album Angels & Devils due to other commitments, but was invited to join the band after the cd was completed, but not yet released. Stewart toured with the band in support of their latest album from May 2007 until early 2008.
Since Fuel had not been touring for a while, Stewart joined Portland
rock band Everclear
in August 2008, replacing Brett Snyder on drums. Stewart departed from Everclear in 2009 after the recording of their 2009 release In A Different Light
when most of the band lineup was jettisoned by Art Alexakis
. By mid-2009, he began working with Lo-Pro again to finish up, and tour in support of, their two releases, the Letting Go EP and The Beautiful Sounds of Revenge
.
Drums: DW
Ebony Satin Oil Finish
Cymbals: Zildjian
Electronics:
Vic Firth drumsticks
DW pedals and hardware
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
drummer
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
, currently for the rock band Lo-Pro
Lo-Pro
Lo-Pro is an American five-piece hard rock band. They released a self-titled album in 2003. However, after touring in support of the album, they were dropped from the Geffen record label. The band then spent years working on new material, and streaming many new songs on their Myspace...
. He is probably best known for his stint with heavy metal band Godsmack
Godsmack
Godsmack is an American heavy metal band from Lawrence, Massachusetts, formed in 1995. The band is composed of founder, frontman and songwriter Sully Erna, guitarist Tony Rombola, bassist Robbie Merrill, and drummer Shannon Larkin...
. He has also toured and recorded with a number of other bands including Detroit based metal band Halloween
Halloween (metal band)
Halloween is a heavy metal band from Detroit, Michigan. It was formed in 1983 by members Brian Thomas, George Neal, Rick Craig, and Bill Whyte. Their debut album Don't Metal with Evil was released in 1985 on the Motor City Metal label. It was a legend in the Detroit metal circuit...
"The Heavy Metal Horror Show", glam rock
Glam rock
Glam rock is a style of rock and pop music that developed in the UK in the early 1970s, which was performed by singers and musicians who wore outrageous clothes, makeup and hairstyles, particularly platform-soled boots and glitter...
band Lillian Axe
Lillian Axe
Lillian Axe is a hard rock band from New Orleans who write and perform music from acoustic ballads to full out heavy metal anthems. Four studio recordings were released before they disbanded in 1995...
, and alternative rock bands Fuel
Fuel (band)
Fuel is an American rock band formed by guitarist/songwriter Carl Bell and bassist Jeff Abercrombie in 1989. Originally known as Small the Joy, they changed the group's name to Fuel sometime in 1994...
and Everclear
Everclear (band)
Everclear is a rock band formed in Portland, Oregon in 1992 best known for their radio hits spanning more than a decade. For most of its existence, Everclear has consisted of Art Alexakis , Craig Montoya , and Greg Eklund . Eklund replaced original drummer Scott Cuthbert in 1994...
.
Early life
He grew up in the working-class city of Flint, Michigan, where at the age of ten he started playing in the school band.In 1984 he graduated from Ainsworth High School (now Carman-Ainsworth High) in Flint.
Career
In the 1980s, he drummed in local bands Bad Axe, Kody Lee, and Damage Inc.Tommy (then known as Tommy Scott Stewart) joined Halloween in 1989, and recorded "The Vicious Demo" (also known as "Vicious Demonstration") which was first released on cassette in 1990, and was sold at their shows. The tracks were later released as "bonus tracks" on the band's remastered 2001 release No One Gets Out (reissued by Molten Metal U.S.A.). He left the band in 1990.
In 1993 he joined glam rock band Lillian Axe
Lillian Axe
Lillian Axe is a hard rock band from New Orleans who write and perform music from acoustic ballads to full out heavy metal anthems. Four studio recordings were released before they disbanded in 1995...
and played on their 1993 release Psychoschizophrenia
Psychoschizophrenia
Psychoschizophrenia is an album by glam metal band Lillian Axe, released in 1993.-Track listing:#"Crucified"#"Deepfreeze"#"Moonlight in your Blood"#"Stop the Hate"#"Sign of the Times"#"Needle and Your Pain"#"Those Who Prey"#"Voices In My Walls"...
. The band went on hiatus in mid-1990s after their Psychoschizophrenia tour, and band members started various sideprojects, one being The Bridge by then vocalist Ron Taylor where Tommy played drums on most of the cd.
Stewart was the original drummer of Godsmack
Godsmack
Godsmack is an American heavy metal band from Lawrence, Massachusetts, formed in 1995. The band is composed of founder, frontman and songwriter Sully Erna, guitarist Tony Rombola, bassist Robbie Merrill, and drummer Shannon Larkin...
. He had met the Godsmack frontman Sully Erna
Sully Erna
Salvatore Paul "Sully" Erna , is an American vocalist and primary songwriter for the American heavy metal band, Godsmack. Erna is also a guitarist and drummer, performing these both on albums and during live shows. He has a daughter named Skylar Brooke Erna and an older sister named Maria.-Early...
when he was playing in Lillian Axe and Sully was touring with his previous band Strip Mind. He joined Godsmack in 1995, left briefly, and returned in 1998 just before the band's debut album came out. He played with them for two multi-platinum selling albums, Godsmack
Godsmack (album)
-Controversy:The album caused controversy due to its profane lyrics without a Parental Advisory Label. After listening to his son's copy of the album, a father in the U.S. complained to Wal-Mart, who sold him the album, that the lyrics were offensive. Wal-Mart and Kmart took the album off the...
and Awake
Awake (Godsmack album)
-Track listing:Japanese bonus tracks-Personnel:Godsmack*Sully Erna - vocals, rhythm guitar*Tony Rombola - lead guitar, backing vocals*Robbie Merrill - bass, backing vocals*Tommy Stewart - drums, backing vocalsAdditional performances...
. He co-wrote the single "Bad Religion
Bad Religion (Godsmack song)
"Bad Religion" is a song by American heavy metal band Godsmack. It served as the third single from their eponymous debut album.Following the September 11, 2001 attacks, radio conglomerate Clear Channel Communications sent out a list of 150 songs that were recommended to be pulled from airplay...
" for the band's self-titled debut album with Sully Erna. Stewart also plays on the Godsmack single "I Stand Alone
I Stand Alone (song)
"I Stand Alone" is a song by American heavy metal band Godsmack. It served as a single from the Scorpion King soundtrack on March 5, 2002. It would reappear on Godsmack's third studio album, Faceless, the following year....
" which was first released on the Scorpion King
The Scorpion King
The Scorpion King is a 2002 American action film directed by Chuck Russell, starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Kelly Hu, Grant Heslov, and Michael Clarke Duncan...
soundtrack in 2002 and later appeared on the band's third studio album Faceless after his departure. He left the band in 2002 due to personal differences. The break-up has been described as amicable, but Erna, a drummer himself, who wrote the majority of drum parts and also recorded the drums on the debut album, admits that "I had a very set vision on where I wanted to go with music and after a while, in his defense, it just wore on him having no input in the band".
After leaving Godsmack Stewart briefly joined ex-Van Halen and Extreme vocalist Gary Cherone's
Gary Cherone
Gary Francis Caine Cherone is an American rock singer-songwriter. He is best known for his work with the rock group Extreme, as well as his short stint as the lead singer for Van Halen on their 11th album Van Halen III and subsequent tour. In recent years he has released solo recordings. In 2007,...
band Tribe of Judah
Tribe of Judah (band)
Tribe of Judah is Gary Cherone's post-Van Halen band featuring several former members of Extreme. An eponymous EP was released in 2001 and a full-length album was released in late 2002. Tribe of Judah is different from Cherone's other work as it features a more industrial/electronic sound...
as touring drummer.
In 2002 he joined vocalist Pete Murray and guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
Neil Godfrey from Ultraspank
Ultraspank
Ultraspank was an industrial nu metal band in the late 1990s and early 2000s. They released two albums, a self-titled album in 1998, and a follow-up, "Progress", in 2000...
to form Lo-Pro
Lo-Pro
Lo-Pro is an American five-piece hard rock band. They released a self-titled album in 2003. However, after touring in support of the album, they were dropped from the Geffen record label. The band then spent years working on new material, and streaming many new songs on their Myspace...
. Lo-Pro was signed to Staind
Staind
Staind is an American rock band that was formed in 1995 in Springfield, Massachusetts. For 16 years, the band consisted of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Aaron Lewis, lead guitarist Mike Mushok, bassist Johnny April, and drummer Jon Wysocki...
and Aaron Lewis
Aaron Lewis
Aaron Lewis, , is the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and founding member of the rock group Staind, with whom he has released seven studio albums. He has since ventured into country music with his debut solo album, Town Line...
's record label 413 Records (a subsidiary of Geffen Records
Geffen Records
Geffen Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and operated as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-Beginnings:...
), but the band was dropped after one album.
In January 2005 he played drums on the CD Ain't No Good Life by Rusty Wright Blues. The CD was released in August 2006 and it features 13 songs in a blues/southern rock style. Tommy and Rusty were old band mates from much earlier projects, but this was the first time doing the blues genre. Tommy does casual dates with Rusty Wright as guest drummer.
With little activity by Lo-Pro after touring behind their debut album, Stewart did some shows with Pennsylvania-based alternative rock band Fuel
Fuel (band)
Fuel is an American rock band formed by guitarist/songwriter Carl Bell and bassist Jeff Abercrombie in 1989. Originally known as Small the Joy, they changed the group's name to Fuel sometime in 1994...
as a replacement drummer in mid-2005 after the band parted ways with their longtime drummer Kevin Miller. He also helped guitarist and chief songwriter Carl Bell
Carl Bell (musician)
Carl Bell is an American musician and producer born January 9, 1967 in Kenton, Tennessee. He founded the hard rock band Fuel with long-time friend and band member Jeff Abercrombie. Bell was the principal songwriter and lyricist for the band and performed guitar and backing vocals from the band's...
and bassist Jeff Abercrombie audition singers after Brett Scallions' departure in 2006. Stewart was unable to participate in the recording of the Fuel album Angels & Devils due to other commitments, but was invited to join the band after the cd was completed, but not yet released. Stewart toured with the band in support of their latest album from May 2007 until early 2008.
Since Fuel had not been touring for a while, Stewart joined Portland
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
rock band Everclear
Everclear (band)
Everclear is a rock band formed in Portland, Oregon in 1992 best known for their radio hits spanning more than a decade. For most of its existence, Everclear has consisted of Art Alexakis , Craig Montoya , and Greg Eklund . Eklund replaced original drummer Scott Cuthbert in 1994...
in August 2008, replacing Brett Snyder on drums. Stewart departed from Everclear in 2009 after the recording of their 2009 release In A Different Light
In A Different Light
In a Different Light is a 2009 album by the band Everclear. It is the band's first album with label 429 Records. The album is a collection of older Everclear songs from previous albums performed in a more stripped down and acoustic fashion, with one new song, "At the End of the Day".In a Different...
when most of the band lineup was jettisoned by Art Alexakis
Art Alexakis
Arthur Paul "Art" Alexakis is best known as the American singer, composer, and lead guitarist of the rock band Everclear. He has been a member of several notable bands, in addition to his own work as a songwriter for other artists...
. By mid-2009, he began working with Lo-Pro again to finish up, and tour in support of, their two releases, the Letting Go EP and The Beautiful Sounds of Revenge
The Beautiful Sounds of Revenge
The Beautiful Sounds of Revenge is the second full-album by Lo-Pro, originally scheduled to be released was May 25, 2010, but was delayed to June 8, 2010, in order to add more songs to it. It is their third formal release of music, after their self-titled release in 2003 and the Letting Go EP in...
.
Gear
(with Godsmack)Drums: DW
Drum Workshop
Drum Workshop is a drum and hardware manufacturing company based in Oxnard, California. Their slogan is "The Drummer's Choice".-History:...
Ebony Satin Oil Finish
- 20" × 18" Bass drum
- 14" × 4½" Solid Maple Snare
- 10"-12" Toms
- 16" Floor Tom
Cymbals: Zildjian
Avedis Zildjian Company
The Avedis Zildjian Company is a cymbal manufacturer founded in Istanbul by Armenian Avedis Zildjian in the 17th century during the Ottoman Empire. At nearly 400 years old, Zildjian is one of the oldest companies in the world...
- 14" Remix Crash
- 14" A Mastersound Hi-Hats
- Zil Bel Large
- 18" Z Custom Crash
- 10" EFX Splash
- 22" Z Custom Mega Bell Ride
- 20" A Crash/Ride Brilliant
- 18" Z Custom Rocker Crash
- 20" A China High
Electronics:
- 10" ddrum pads
Vic Firth drumsticks
DW pedals and hardware
Halloween
- Vicious DemosVicious DemosVicious Demos is a 1990 demo released by Detroit metal band Halloween.-History 1989-1990:In 1988, original members Rick Craig and Bill Whyte left to start metal band Emerald City in Detroit. The replacements came in the form of guitarist Billy Gray and future Godsmack drummer Tommy Stewart...
(1990) - No One Gets OutNo One Gets OutThe album was reissued by Molten Metal U.S.A in 2001. It contained additional five bonus tracks from Vicious Demos .-Personnel:*Brian Thomas – vocals*George Neal – bass*Donny Allen – guitar...
(2002 Reissue on bonus tracks From Vicious Demos Cassette)
Godsmack
- All Wound UpAll Wound Up (album)-Personnel:* Sully Erna – vocals, guitar, drums* Tony Rombola – lead guitars, additional vocals* Robbie Merrill – bass**Joe D'arco – **Tommy Stewart –...
(1997) - GodsmackGodsmack (album)-Controversy:The album caused controversy due to its profane lyrics without a Parental Advisory Label. After listening to his son's copy of the album, a father in the U.S. complained to Wal-Mart, who sold him the album, that the lyrics were offensive. Wal-Mart and Kmart took the album off the...
(1998) - AwakeAwake (Godsmack album)-Track listing:Japanese bonus tracks-Personnel:Godsmack*Sully Erna - vocals, rhythm guitar*Tony Rombola - lead guitar, backing vocals*Robbie Merrill - bass, backing vocals*Tommy Stewart - drums, backing vocalsAdditional performances...
(2000) - "I Stand AloneI Stand Alone (song)"I Stand Alone" is a song by American heavy metal band Godsmack. It served as a single from the Scorpion King soundtrack on March 5, 2002. It would reappear on Godsmack's third studio album, Faceless, the following year....
" (Single) (2002)
Lo-Pro
- Lo-ProLo-Pro (album)Lo-Pro is the self-titled debut album of Lo-Pro, released on September 30, 2003. It had one single in "Sunday" which garnered considerable radio play upon release...
(2003) - Letting Go EP (2009)
- The Beautiful Sounds of RevengeThe Beautiful Sounds of RevengeThe Beautiful Sounds of Revenge is the second full-album by Lo-Pro, originally scheduled to be released was May 25, 2010, but was delayed to June 8, 2010, in order to add more songs to it. It is their third formal release of music, after their self-titled release in 2003 and the Letting Go EP in...
(2010) - Bittersweet (2011) (released under pseudonym "Life on Planet 9")
Fuel
- Angels & Devils (2007)
- "Wasted TimeWasted Time (Fuel song)"Wasted Time" is a song by Fuel and the lead single from their fourth studio album Angels & Devils, released on June 19, 2007. Written by guitarist Carl Bell, it is the first single by the band to feature new lead singer Toryn Green...
" (Music Video) (2007)