We had the good fortune of connecting with Tommy Quayle and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Tommy, why did you pursue a creative career?
There’s two things, at least. I have songs in my head and I have to get them out. Since I was very young, poems and songs have appeared in my head. I have to finish them or they distract me. Secondly, I love to perform on stage. There’s an energy created in live performance that you can’t find anywhere else.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Songwriting is my strongest suit. As I mentioned earlier, songs, little musical phrases really, appear in my head frequently. The good ones, I just have to sit at the piano or guitar and a notebook and figure out where it wants to or need to go. Like a puzzle, kind of. Lyric wise, you have two verses and a chorus fit your idea into and musically, you have your do-re-mi’s to attend to. But unlike a puzzle, there is no boundary, no blanks to fill in, so you kind of floating in space until you figure it out. When I was younger, I found I didn’t have the musical skills to get what I wanted, so I took some music classes at college, they helped immensely. One lesson I’ve learned about songs, no matter how simple the idea may seem, let it come out. I never hit the big time, but I almost did and it was with a song that I’d almost forgot about and I had kind of written off because it was so simple. Someone else heard it and loved it. You never know.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
There are so many great things about Ventura! I recently took a friend to Channel Islands Museum, a lovely place at Ventura Harbor where you can learn everything you ever wanted to know about the islands. We had a meal a Brophy Brothers, always yummy. Then we went to The Grape in midtown to hear some great music.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My wife Kelly has been unfailingly supportive of my songwriting and performing. She sings with me sometimes. Besides her, the usual suspects, parents, siblings, friends, teachers, other musicians, there have been so many and they have always been incredibly supportive.

Website: https://tommyquayle.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tom.quayle.3

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@tomquayle8351

Image Credits
Photo 1 Larry Nimmer photo 2 Debra Wales

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