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January 2001 marked the 20th anniversary of Saltspring Island resident Tom Hooper's illustrious recording career. It all began in bassist friendly giant's (Don Walchuck's) parents' basement in
Kelowna. Along with brother Chris on drums, Tom (14 at the time) served as lead singer and guitarist for the punk band The Gentlemen of Horror. They recorded their legendary and rare 5 song 7" 45. (It
recently sold on e-bay for over 300$.)
The Gentlemen of Horror eventually disbanded and in the fall of 1983, Tom moved over to the bass and again with brother Chris joined up
with friend Kevin Kane and formed the Grapes of Wrath. The Grapes went on to record and sell 4 albums and 1 EP, 2 of which went platinum and one gold. Tom established himself as a platinum
songwriter penning such top ten hits as "I Am Here" and" You May Be Right." The band split in '92.
In '93 Tom and brother Chris along with Grapes keyboardist Vince
Jones soon formed Ginger. Though not as big commercially as the Grapes, Ginger produced 2 critically regarded albums and an EP before going their separate ways in 97.
1998 saw Tom and fellow former Grape man Kevin Kane set aside past differences and record another Grapes album
entitled "Field Trip." However their efforts became thwarted when their newly formed record label Songcorp shocked the
industry by going bankrupt just months after their formation. Tom meanwhile had been quietly playing solo acoustic shows around his home community on Saltspring Island.
"I had been playing music for so many years, but I'd never done my own solo show, and when I finally did it, I was like
'Why didn't I do this before?' I love it." It was the spring of 2001 that Tom decided to do the solo thing full time. In the fall of
2001 Tom signed with Toronto label Bullseye Records and proceeded to record his first solo album "The Unexplored
Cosmos" at Randy Bachman's studio "The Barn" and also in his own home studio "The Trailer." Tom produced and played
all the instruments except for some stellar drum tracks laid down by his brother Chris Hooper.
With his new CD released on April 23, Tom is taking his show on the road. Opening up for Randy Bachman this past
month, Tom performed his solo acoustic set to rave reviews. He plans on touring further a field this summer to support the
new CD. Playing songs that he wrote for the Grapes of Wrath, Ginger and his newest unreleased songs as well as his
interpretations of favourite tunes from the past, Tom has as much fun as the audience and has been known to play marathon 3 hour sets late into the night.
FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
president@bullseyecanada.com
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