In 1989 guitar play Tom Flynn started a band called Tachyon with his friend Tom Brislin while both attended the same high school. Tachyon was a progressive rock band influenced by Saga, Yes, and Rush. Tachyon was a rare example of a young progressive rock band in the age of “hair bands” during the late 1980s and was a formative experience for both young musicians for songwriting and performing. Tom Brislin would later become a successful keyboard player and songwriter, playing with Yes, Meatloaf, The Sea Within, and many others.
After Tachyon broke up, Tom Flynn continued to play in bands, some of which played in clubs in central NJ. In the late 1990s Tom formed the band Rain Station with Al Sipos (drums) and Anthony Kroposky (bass). Rain Station produced a self-titled 2 song cassette, and played gigs around New Brunswick, NJ, including New Brunswick’s The Court Tavern. Rain Station’s musical style moved away from Progressive Rock in favor of more straightforward melodic rock, and was the first band to feature Tom on lead vocals along with guitar.
Around the time of Rain Station, Tom began to expand musically, first by singing with a Barbershop chorus to learn more about vocal performance. After a few years, Tom found Barbershop vocal technique limiting, and began studying voice more seriously, using the Speech Level Singing (SLS) technique in the early 2000s. In 2002, Tom attended an SLS workshop in Los Angeles, and took a songwriting course with the late John Braheny. This event would fundamentally change Tom’s musical outlook and life. During the class, Tom played an early version of the song “Beautiful” to the class for critique and received encouraging feedback from John. Tom sent other songs to John for critique, and learned the value of the revision process for songwriting. Over time, Tom shifted from a guitar player who wrote songs to a serious songwriter.
As Tom devoted more time to songwriting, he stopped playing in bands and starting playing open mics as a solo performer. This provided the possibility to take time to write songs from the ground up, without the aid of a full band arrangement. Tom began to develop a style that blended folk and rock, with meticulously detailed lyrics.
In 2009, Tom attended a songwriting workshop with Jimmie Dale Gilmore at the Omega Center in Rhinebeck NY. At Omega, Tom connected with many other songwriters which further influenced his writing. Some of Tom’s songs took a narrative approach and leaned strongly in a folk direction, though the pop/rock influence still remained strong from a melodic standpoint. By 2013 Tom started playing his own solo acoustic gigs.
After years of honing his craft, Tom released his first solo album in August 2018, produced by longtime friend and former band mate Tom Brislin. The album was greeted with enthusiasm from friends and fans and a promotional campaign is soon to follow.