1. Thomas Alan "Tom" Waits

2. Tom Waits: Born December 7, 1949 in Pomona California. Singer song-writer, musician, actor, and composer. Lives with wife Kathleen Brennan and their three children. 63 years old and still performing strong.

3. Musical Persona: Genre: Blues, jazz, parlor ballads, vaudeville, rock and EXPERIMENTAL. Instruments: Piano, guitar, percussion, and vocals. Distinctive voice: “like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car” —Daniel DurchHolz/Rolling Stone magazine http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EU hWuPTBIfo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EU hWuPTBIfo

4. Band and accompanying instruments: Standard: Electric guitars, keys, stand-up bass, drums, percussion, tenor sax. Supplemental: Banjo, accordion, harp, bag- pipes, bull-horn, bowed saw, harmonica, conundrum, organs, hand-bells, shakers, theremin, and you name it……..

5. Trademark: One of a kind character and versatile Multi talented entertainer (actor, produces musical theatre, writes books, comedian) Well known for his conventional ballads Uses 12 Bar Blues form (traditional and non) Fusing of genres Lyric content: Under-belly of American life (beautiful losers, nighthawks, boozers, grifters, drifters, dreamers, con men and the portrayal of seedy characters). High energy output/explosive performances http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lh7JZUpa VPg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lh7JZUpa VPg

6. Major Influences: Tin Pan Alley George Gershwin James Brown Bessie Smith Ray Charles Bob Dylan Louis Armstrong Thelonious Monk Howlin’ Wolf Muddy Waters Billie Holiday Johnny Cash Frank Sinatra Beat Generation Jack Kerouac Charles Bukowski Lord Buckley

7. Artists covering Waits songs: Johnny Cash Eagles Bruce Springsteen Neville brothers Tori Amos Nora Jones Rod Stewart Steve Earle Robert Plant Allison Krauss Blind Boys of Alabama Sarah MacLachlan Screaming Jay Hawkins Solomon Burke Elvis Costello Bob Seger Les Claypool Ramones -VH1 declared him, “one of the most influential artists of all time.” -Recorded with many artists such as Hank Williams III, Les Claypool, Teddy Edwards, Blind Boys Alabama, Bette Middler and more…….

8. 24 Albums (1973-2011) Closing Time -1973 Heart Of Saturday Night -1974 Night hawks at the Diner -1975 Small Change -1976 Foreign Affair -1977 Heart-attack And Vine -1980 Bounced Checks -1981 Blue Valentine -1978

9. One From the Heart: Soundtrack -1982 Swordfish Trombones -1983 Franks Wild Years -1987 Big Time -1989 Bone Machine -1990 Night On Earth: Soundtrack -1992 The Black Rider -1993 Rain Dogs -1985

10. Mule Variations -1999 Used Songs -2001 Blood Money -2002 Alice -2002 Real Gone -2004 Orphans -2006 Glitter and Doom -2009 Bad Ass Me -2011

11. Musical Theatre: “Black Rider”(successful run at the Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago) “Blood Money” “Alice in Wonderland” “Franks Wild Years” 1990

12. Acting Career: Coffee and Cigarettes Dracula http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaVZmo8CsGQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaVZmo8CsGQ Down by Law The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus Fisher King Iron Weed Book of Eli Produced several sound tracks (2014) Pinocchio (director Guillermo Del Toro)

13. Waits was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame March 14, 2011. The ceremony was held at the Waldorf Astoria.

14. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o72GDj7svq4 Tom Waits living legend—musical genius

15. References:  "Tom Waits Biography." Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum. n.d. n. page. Web. 10 Dec. 2012..  "Tom Waits." Rolling Stone Artists. n.d. n. page. Web. 10 Dec. 2012..  "Tom Waits Biography." Sing365. n.d. n. page. Web. 12 Dec. 2012..  "Tom Waits." Anti. n. page. Web. 12 Dec. 2012. <http://www.tomwaits.com/albums/