Home Music Schedule Books Biography Discography Works
Tom Rasely: a short
biography
There are lots of good
stories, and some really interesting photos too...including the one with the Mouseguitar!
Tom Rasely began playing the guitar in 1964, shortly after the Beatles hit the
American music scene. As a (mostly) self-taught guitar player, Tom had a vast
training in music theory, having 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, conductor. He was a man
who lived and breathed music.
As a teacher, Tom has taught thousands of players: at his
private studio; at the NPM Guitar Schools all 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, and "La Valse" Issue #64. Tom has written several guitar instruction books, including the
"Chord Chart Guitar Method" (self-published), 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 the unique audience-participation inprov,
original music, as well as many familiar melodies.
As a recording artist, Tom has appeared on over 60 recording
projects, many featuring his original music. Tom also plays most of his own
keyboard parts, and quite a bit of auxilliary
percussion on his recordings. See the Tom's Music page for information on how
to order any/all of his CDs. Go to The
Music Page link to hear some of Tom's music, or simply click here: CDBaby.
Tom Rasely Guest Artist appearances include:
* Holiday
Tours at the White House ['98, '02]
* BC Pops [Binghamton NY]
* Buffalo [NY] Festival Orchestra
* Marywood University Orchestra [Scranton PA]
* Syracuse [NY] Symphony Pops
* The Oneida [NY] Area Civic Chorale
He has also performed at hundreds of venues including:
- Caffe Lena [Saratoga Springs NY]
- Eighth Step Coffeehouse [Albany NY]
- Syracuse [NY] Carrier Dome
- as opening act for Christian singer Mylon LeFevre [Binghamton NY]
- shared billing with Hemphills Family Gospel Group
[Lake Charles LA]
* A member of the American
Composers’ Forum
* and is Music Ministry Associate and Composer-in-Residence at First Congregational Church (UCC)
Church in Norwich, NY.
Artistic Statement from The Raze:
"My music is a neo-romantic statement of melody. My goal is to create
music that is (to paraphrase Broadway composer Jule Styne)
melodically strong and harmonically attractive. Recording allows me to get a
quality performance into the hands (and ears) of a large number of people. As a
Christian, I believe that every note comes from God; every note is offered as a
gift back to God. I hope it is all an expression of my personal relationship
with Jesus Christ (I Cor. 10:31; Phil. 3:12-14)".
Success Story
Roy Coston was one of my first guitar students when I was
teaching full time in Oneida NY in the mid-to-late 70s. Roy started lessons
when he was 11 years old. He has made a terrific career as a lead guitarist.
Roy not only got good, he got a lot taller. Here we are, 30 years later,
getting together to play a "little" guitar. You can hear some of his
music on Roy’s
official web site.
Yamaha CGX171CCA solid
cedar-top classical guitar, with cutaway (Augustine strings).
Yamaha SBG-200 solid body
electric guitar (SG clone).
Casio CTK-750 keyboard.
RK-101 35-note key tree.
Scotch C-38 tape dispenser.
- The "key tree" is just what it sounds like: a chime tree made out
of car keys, house keys, padlock keys. It has a
particularly light "tinkly" sound. I got the
idea from Lance DeMers, an extraordinary drummer and
Christian brother.
- The Scotch tape dispenser referred to is the molded plastic desk-model,
that's filled with sand. The best way to play it is to remove the tape &
spool, and of course the blade. It has a much softer sound than a cabasa. What? You thought we were kidding?
TOM SHARES HIS JANUARY 9th BIRTHDAY WITH AN AMAZING LIST OF PEOPLE:
Les
Paul (guitarist, inventor)
Jimmy
Page (Led Zepplin)
Joan
Baez (folk singer)
Crystal
Gale (singer)
Paul
King (Blue Oyster Cult)
Dave
Matthews (D.M.B.)
Bill Cooley (fingerstyle guitarist, lead
guitar with Kathy Mattea)
Rudolph
Bing (former manager of the Metropolitan Opera Company)
George
Balanchine (ballet choreographer)
Gypsy
Rose Lee (Burlesque performer)
Bob
Denver (TV's Gilligan, and Maynard G. Krebs)
Richard
M. Nixon (37th U.S. President)