Biography

Thompson, 45, was born a musician. His parents, Lou and Louis, were both accomplished performers, his father a professional pianist. By the time Thompson was 11, he was already "gigging" with his father's band.

He Started on drums. In the mid-1960's, there was a lot of live music around, a lot of bands. With his father, Thompson began playing a regular circuit of clubs and private parties, filling in when the regular drummer couldn't make it. He had to be snuck in the back door for his professional debut, because he was underage.

Music was a regular part of the Thompson home too. With brother Dale on bass, his father on piano and himself on drums, they would have regular jam sessions. Music was the most important thing in the world to the Thompson family; they preferred not to read music, but would listen to the radio and the record player and replicate the tunes in their living room.

Thompson started his first band when he was 14 years old. On stage he was the drummer and a singer. Behind the stage he was a jack of all trades: he set up the sound system, taped down the instrument cords so no one would trip, made up set lists, and booked performances. It was his first taste of the business of the music industry and he liked it.

Along the way he gained proficiency in the guitar and piano, in which he is classically trained. While at school at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, he began playing more piano than drums in public, and landed his first job as the pianist for a 16-piece band there in Greensboro, A friend was the band-leader, and Thompson would make the rounds with him as he networked, signed contracts, and made demo tapes.

Thompson lasted two years in the university's music school before switching his major to business/economics. He wanted to mix his music skills with his business sense. He considered music merchandising and band promotion before deciding that neither of those careers would allow him to play as much as he wanted.

In the meantime, he began supplementing his performance income with a job tuning instruments, back when instruments were still more mechanical than digital, and you could do that kind of thing. Before the big acts came on stage at the Greensboro Coliseum, Thompson made sure their pianos and keyboards were at their best. He's coaxed the best sounds out of piano for Elvis Presley(for his last performance in North Carolina), Willie Nelson, Fleetwood Mac and KISS among dozens of others.

His reputation as a tuner and pianist spread beyond Greensboro into the Research Triangle Area, and Thompson moved to Cary. He began performing with five different groups, including the Corbi-Thompson Quartet, a jazz band that has played in the restaurants and clubs around the Triangle.

He started the Tonyman Music label to produce that group's first CD, and has been shuffling a list of hats since. He's finally found a way to full fill that dream of integrating music with business.

Thompson is a one-man show these days, acting as musician, band leader, promoter, and distributor. He has the soul of a jazz musician and the mind of a businessman. As the operator of his own music label-Tonyman Music-Thompson has pulled from both of those body parts to compose, perform and market his first CD of all original music, 'Forever Charmed' currently available at Amazon.com

Tony's Biography prepared by Megan Jones - staff writer, Cary News, Cary, NC