Tommy Hays

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Tommy Hays (born Thomas Avery Hays in Hartshorne, Oklahoma, in 1929) is a guitarist, band leader and vocalist. He started playing the guitar in church when he was 10 years old. He performed on the Billy Mize TV Show, Cousin Herb Show, was a member of the house band for the Lucky Spot and the Blackboard and had his own radio show on KMPC. Tommy played on stage with many of the old timers who were part of creating the Bakersfield Sound.

Tommy has been playing in the honky-tonks in and around Bakersfield for over fifty years. Recognized as one of the original “Bakersfield Sound” pioneers, he has helped forge this unique and definitive sound. Driven by the piano, steel and Telecaster guitar, the Bakersfield Sound was a reaction to the early ‘50s and ‘60s sweetening of country music epitomized by the Nashville Sound.

Along with the Western Swingsters, he released the CD, “60 Years of Western Swing” in 2006.

He currently resides in Bakersfield, California, and still plays locally.

[edit] Discography

• 60 Years of Western Swing (2006)

[edit] External links

• Echoes of Bakersfield, an informational archive site.
• Article about the Bakersfield Sound, Tales and Reflections.
• TV News Article about Tommy playing the Crystal Palace from KERO-TV
• Another Bakersfield Sound article Totally Explained.