Tom O'Donnell

About Tom:

I'm retired from everything except music, and spend my time in either Morgantown, West Virginia, or Rothbury, England, in both of which I have residences. I started playing and singing many of the 140+ songs available on this web site when I was sixteen, and am still going strong at 68. 

I've been doing a lot of performing, especially in Northumberland, the county in England where I live. It's alive with music--singarounds, jamsessions, open mics, innumerable performances--and audiences come to listen to the music and sing along when they know the song or can figure it out. I'm the "exotic" American doing unusual material, and that has given me a great audience in a place where lots of folk make wonderful music of all kinds.

I am a huge fan of the music of John Stewart, having recorded almost two dozen of his songs. John was a member of the Kingston Trio from 1961 to 1967; the Trio was what got me obsessed with playing and singing. John unfortunately passed away in 2008, but his music lives on, and the Kingston Trio still performs with more energy and excitement than ever, although its members have changed.

Every summer I attend the Kingston Trio Fantasy Camp in Scottsdale, Arizona; this year's will be my 10th Camp. John Stewart's fan group, the Bloodliners, also meets at the Camp. It's pretty much one of the best weeks of the year, except for the heat--but everything's indoors.    When I was in college and graduate school, I performed professionally on the East Coast--coffee houses and campuses. Then, for many years, I paid little attention to this type of music, and instead sang in a series of choirs and choral groups. But when I found the Fantasy Camp in 2006, I rediscovered my love for this music. It led me to begin recording the works you can find on this web site; the newest album is my 7th. 

And for those with a deep desire to know something about me besides music: I started off as a university professor at Transylvania University, got fired, and went to law school at the University of Cincinnati. I joined the international law firm of Baker & McKenzie in Washington, DC in 1983 with my newly-minted bar certificate, moved to Baker's office in Paris in 1998 and then on to its Zurich office in 2001. I retired in 2012, after 29 years as an international tax specialist. I am now a "recovering lawyer," on step 5 of my 12-Step program.