Tom McDermott
Following his MUSE-ic
to New Orleans
A good person can be defined as
someone who listens, learns and tries
to be open to change. A good musician
can be defined as someone who listens,
learns, draws from, bends, interprets and
re-interprets music to create something
uniquely their own and entertaining.
Tom McDermott is both a good person
and a good musician. In fact, some, like
fellow musician Kevin Clark, would say
“He’s great!”
A native of St. Louis, McDermott had
already been enthralled with ragtime and
traditional jazz music as a young player.
He began playing professionally as a
teen and was happy to have met a few
outstanding pianists from New Orleans
playing on riverboats in the St. Louis area.
These connections would later prove
to be extremely useful as McDermott
migrated south to New Orleans.
After the breakup of a bad relationship
and the loss of his position as a music
critic for a local paper, McDermott was
ready for a big change. He decided on a
geographical move and the only place he
wanted to be was New Orleans.
“I was infatuated with the music of
James Booker and I knew I wanted to hear
and see more of it,” says McDermott.
By Meaghan Clark
In addition to knowing the names of a
few players in town, the pianist also had a
sister in New Orleans who was attending
Loyola University. Though she left and
finished her degree elsewhere, his sister
immediately returned to New Orleans
upon graduation and has remained here
since. It helped to have another friendly
face nearby and McDermott soon began
playing music around town.
“My very first job in New Orleans was
subbing at the Gazebo in the French
Quarter,” he says.
From there McDermott subbed on
Bourbon Street with a variety of bands
26 | BREAKTHRU MEDIA | breakthrumediamagazine.com MAY / J U N E 2 0 1 8
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