Tommy Salmon is a very good friend of mine, and even though the guy lives almost 800 miles away from me now, he still remains a very important person in my life. Any more, we have few things in common. Time and distance will do that to people.        Back in high school, Tommy convinced three other friends to join him in making music. All but their drummer was any good as a musician, but the product was never as important as the process. That was the birth of his first real band- ATI, which stood for “Another Three Initials”. It was a punk band back when punk bands were not the “in” thing. Of course, going with the flow or doing what's “trendy” isn’t an evil thing. When you do what others have already done, but you convince yourself that you're doing something new and original is when that thing becomes pathetic. At any rate, popularity was not his main concern. It might get him laid from time to time, but getting laid wasn't something he expected.        A funny thing began to happen to the guys in the ATI after a while- they were collecting a respectable following for a high school garage band. Even though the band was known and loved locally, they were still just a high school garage band.        Tommy was always serious about being a rock star some day. He knew it was bound to happen, it would just take a little time, but ATI wasn't going to be the band that would brake into the mainstream, therefore, he spread himself far and wide.        Tommy quit the ATI thing and formed other bands that he played in simultaneously. There was “Rosary”, “Tommy Salmon and the Drunken Pilots”, “Toadstool Jr.”, and played with almost any band that wanted him aboard.        Along came the band “Something Blue”. They were considering replacing their drummer and bassist, and Tommy was actually a pretty good bassist. He also had Rich Zumoff, the drummer from ATI, who was an incredible drummer! Just one practice session with Tommy and Rich, and the guys in Something Blue were nearly begging them to join.        There were many ups with Something Blue. The Band was very good, and decided to relocate to Athens, GA. Unfortunately they had to replace Rich Zumoff with Scott Nutt, but Scott was a drummer of the same caliber. It was a difficult change, but one that was expected.        Something happened within eight months that the band didn't expect. One of the band members went completely nuts and robbed a bank. No shit. It wasn't surprising to the others in the band that this particular guy went nuts because this guy was always a bit keyed up, but it wasn't expected. The least he could have done was wait until they were famous. Timing is everything.        Of course, Something Blue broke up. They tried retooling, but it didn’t work. The last I heard, the lead singer was a balding divorced computer network administrator. Tommy on the other hand never broke stride. He started playing bass for “Trinket”, a once popular band in Athens, GA. Egos within that band began to outweigh their talent, however, not to mention certain members started going corporate. Eventually, the label started telling them how to sound, how to act, and what to write*. Six months before Tommy quit (or was fired for rocking the boat, depending on your point of view), he knew it was a sinking ship. He didn't tell me that, but I knew how he felt by how he was acting. It was very strange, and I think he was trying desperately to convince himself that all was fine.        There have been projects here and there ever since. His latest is “The High Caliber” (www.thehighcaliber.com) with songs like 16 Miles and Days Go Sailing By. Check them out. And Tommy, if you read this, promise me that you will never give up on yourself. Keep on... *Click HERE for the never released "Tune In Tokyo" by Trinket, the song written by Tommy and rejected by RCA because Tommy refused to change it to corporate design. You see, RCA had requested a new song to be released as a single. This was Tommy's answer, a bit defiant, but very clever. RCA rejected it. Too bad, because the song kicks ass!

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