'Discovering' Tommy White.....

[Roger Rettig]

This is inspired by the recent thread concerning the new Tommy/Lloyd video (sorry if I got that the wrong way round, Marty) and some of the replies thereto.....
I, like many, first heard Tommy's name back in the '70s with the release of his '...aged 15' record; at that point, I'd been playing steel for about five minutes, so to say that he 'blew me away' is superfluous - EVERYONE blew me away back then.
It's fair to say, though, that I heard nothing more about him after that. I WAS living in England, there was no Steel Guitar Forum, and PSG magazines had the life expectancy of a B17's crew, so one tended to focus on the acknowledged 'heavy hitters', or the players who regularly released albums.
A few years back I was watching a re-run of an 'Opry' show on British TV (VERY late at night when the network was 'space-filling') when the Whites were announced with, of course, Tommy on steel. It was fortunate that he got a 'name check' on the show, or I would have just been left wondering who the incredible player was! He played both necks with such musicality and excitement that I was left in no doubt that here was a truly significant musician..... and yet, in a universal sense, he was very little known.

Confirmation of his powers, if it were needed, came in the form of his E9 instruction video, and that hauntingly beautiful 'overture' which sounds like pure 'stream of consciousness' - great stuff, and you really have to look closely to steal the inversions!

It's not been easy to hear as much of Tommy's playing as many of us would like (maybe that's why Mr Pollard was unfamiliar with him); I want to use this Forum to urge Tommy White to enter the steel guitar CD 'arena' as soon as possible - he has a remarkable talent, and we'd all benefit enormously.

Roger Rettig
(PS: Teresa, I'm glad to hear he's still practising!)

[Marty Pollard]

Thanx for the info, Roger. You came close to answering my original question. Is Buck Tommy's father? If so, I probably met (and maybe played with) Tommy back in the '70s-'80s. I'm not surprised that Tommy would laugh and say, "I'm practicing."
Neither am I surprised at the finger pointers who get their panties in a wad due to their lack of a sense of humor.
I listened to the clips on Tommy's site and enjoyed his playing, HOWEVER (and I'm not dissing him here), my main interest in the tape would be Lloyd's work.
Hope that's ok with everyone; if not...
hmmm... what's that phrase?
Oh yeah, I remember now, b0b won't let me say it.

[Frank Estes]

Tommy is not related to Buck White.