Tom Blankenship, Boing Boing video 2011
"I get reminders about it every once in a while. People will say, "Weren't you a founding member?" I get that more & more as the years go by. It isn't something I necessarily think about because the five of us with Carl and Bo have been together for almost seven years, which is the majority of the band's lifespan. So, it feels like two different bands; the first three or four years we were together and then there's this band."- Tom Blankenship, when asked by JamBase how it feels to be the only guy besides Jim James that's been on all the albums
(JamBase interview, 2010)
Tom Blankenship, also known as Two Tone Tommy, is the bassist of the band.
Nicknames: Two Tone Tommy, Nature vs. nurture ty (EU), Todd (Z)
Instrument: Bass
Social media: SomeTomGuy (Twitter)
Just one more thing: Tom's a major comic book fan
Tom Blankenship at Radio City Music Hall, NYC -2008, photo by Jason BergmanTwo Tone Tommy
Tom Blankenship is also often mentioned as Two Tone Tommy, a nickname he got from former drummer J. Glenn.
“I really should have a funny story by now. J. Glenn, the drummer on the first two records, used to leave funny messages on my answering machine all the time and one of them was three minutes long with him giving me all these different monikers — one of them was Two Tone Tommy, which he repeated over and over again. So when Tennessee Fire was being put together I was asked, ‘Do you want to use your real name?’ And I was like, No, not really, so I picked Two Tone Tommy. After a show, if I have my hair up in a ponytail no one knows who I am. Even if they do recognize me, it’s always, ‘Tommy?’ or ‘Two Tone?’ I don’t even respond to it because I’m just not used to it in my everyday life”- Tom "Two Tone Tommy" Blankenship
(PopMatters interview, October 2005)
Influences
When talking about influences and music he likes Blankenship points out how this personal connection has been more important than any outside influence. A more detailed post with quotes from Blankenship can be found here.
Tom Blankenship, photo by Serena Van-HekOther appearances
November 22, 2009 - Tom Blankenship and the rest of My Morning Jacket played themselves in an episode of American Dad entitled My Morning Straitjacket.
Mentioned
More to come...
