Tom lives in New York with his wife, daughter and dog. He is currently working on an album. The recording will feature many of the musicians he has played with over the years. Look for a release sometime soon.
Tommy is the drummer with the bands Gent Treadly, The West Side All Stars and Coyote Love.
The West Side All Stars is a straight up, traditional blues outfit. It features Michael Parrish on keyboards and vocals, Mike Davidson on Guitar and vocals, with Tommy playing drums and Matt Lyons on bass. You can also occasionally catch Hank Wagner with them on Harp and vocals.
Coyote Love is the funky, rockin' soul brain child of Hank Wagner. This 6 to 10 piece band often includes a full horn section, rap artists and more. Coyote Love's new CD is coming out in November '09 and Tommy plays on a couple of the cuts. More info about how to get that coming soon.
Gent's current line up is Tommy on drums, Greg Koerner on bass, with Dave Berg on guitar and often Rocky Friedlander on pedal steel guitar. Gent Treadly were regulars on the festival and club circuit backing up Vince Welnick of The Grateful Dead and The Tubes fame. With Vince's untimely passing in June of 2006 and then the sudden death of main stay guitarist Mike Jaimes in October 2006, Gent Treadly has slowed down a bit. There is a new CD in the works that will be out soon.
You can also occasionally catch Tommy playing a drum or two with Folkfoot. The folky, bluegrassy duo of Michael Parrish(on acoustic guitar) and Bill Kelly (on mandola).
To round it all out, Tommy is doing the occasional show as a band leader with a floating line up of musicians under the moniker "Tommy Kaelin and Friends".
In 1985 after studying music performance at Fredonia University Tom helped form the seminal jam band Dreamspeak . Dreamspeak toured around the country playing original improvisational music in an era known more for new wave and heavy metal. Tom honed his skills on the road with Dreamspeak throughout the 80's. They put out one vinyl record album in 1987 called Roadside Stew and numerous self produced tapes attracting attention from coast to coast and opening for artists such as The Nevile Brothers, Marty Balin, Roy Buchanon, Sun Ra Orchestra, Rick Danko, Jorma Kaukonen, Go Ahead, Zero and more.
After the breakup of Dreamspeak in 1990, Tom was a founding member of the band Gravity along with guitarist and fellow Dreamspeaker Matt Zekala . Located in New York City, Gravity played throughout the north east during much of the 90's.
In early 1993 Tom joined up with The Hatters who soon signed with Atlantic Records. The band toured extensively around the country over the next three years playing more than 200 shows a year. They recorded three albums for Atlantic Records and shared the stage with acts such as The Allman Brothers, Cheryl Crow, Gov't Mule, The Aquarium Rescue Unit, Collective Soul, Jimmy Cliff, Blues Traveler, The Black Crows, The Dave Matthews Band, Buddy Guy and many more.
In 1996, after his stint with The Hatters, Tom played in and recorded an album with AHAB. AHAB was the short lived but rocking brain child of Adam Hirsh, The Hatters lead singer and guitarist.
In 1997 Tom signed on with noted blues and rock musician Michael Parrish. Tom toured and recorded with The Michael Parrish Band until 2001. They played festival shows with Neil Young, Blues Traveler, Ben Harper, and The Bare Naked Ladies. Platinum recording artists often sat in with them, and movie producer Morgan Spurlock made their video for the song Money.
It was in the late 90's that Tom also started playing in the band Gent Treadly with his friend and former Gravity alum Greg Koerner on bass guitar. Gent Treadly soon took the jams on the road and were often joined on stage by many music legends. By 2003 they were touring and backing up Vince Welnick for 100 shows a year or more. Tom Constanten of The Grateful Dead and Buddy Cage of The New Riders have also made regular appearances with Gent Treadly over the years.
In 1999 Tom joined up with another former band mate from The Hatters, lead guitarist Adam Evans in the band Famous Unknown. FU have played live in New York city occasionally over the years but have primarily been a studio project. They've recorded a vast catalogue of music that may someday be released.
Tom has played on more than 30 CD's and over the years, among others he has backed up Merle Saunders, Tom Constanten, Buddy Cage and Rick Danko, and he's recorded with John Popper, Jerry Jemmott and Kenny Gwyn and more.
Besides being a musician Tom is also a recording engineer and producer. He has helped design and build 4 recording studios. With his friend from the Michael Parrish Band, guitarist Jonny Sheehan, he was co-owner of Blue Dot Recording Studio in Brooklyn, NY until 2005. Blue Dot Studio was host to such artists as John Popper, Widespread Panic's David Schools, Groove Collective's Jay Rodrigez, DJ logic, Sara Wasserman and Vince Welnick.