Profile: Tommy Sims

Who: Tommy Sims
What: Producer, Songwriter, Vocalist, Multi-Instrumentalist
Primary Instrument: Bass
Secondary Instrument(s): Guitar, Drums, Piano

Does the name Tommy Sims ring a bell? Probably not. But Eric Clapton, Michael McDonald, Bonnie Raitt, CeCe Winans, Bruce Springsteen and dozens of other “mega-stars” have all worked with this Nashville-based music producer. Born in Chicago and raised in Western Michigan, Tommy was inspired musically by his father’s vast record collections and his brother’s ability to play the bass.

At 11 years old, Tommy decided his future in music and began playing the bass. It has been a non-stop journey of evolution since. I first discovered Tommy as producer of Michael McDonald’s “Blue Obsession” CD. Working with Michael, Tommy engineered a new and fresh sound of old school R&B and Memphis Soul for the legendary McDonald. Needless to say, Tommy became a strong #2 in my book of “most respected musicians”.

Like McDonald, Tommy eschews “bragging rights” in favor of allowing his work to speak for itself — and it does. Tommy won a Grammy award for co-writing the big Eric Clapton hit, “Change The World”, which was featured on John Travolta’s “Phenomenon”. The surprise win guaranteed a string of new work for the “up and coming” music producer behind the powerhouse “The Positive Movement, Inc.”

Because of Tommy’s low-profile, he is not widely known by the legions of fans of other big music stars that he’s worked with, but everyone within the industry has a huge amount of respect for his creativity, musicianship and work ethic (he is always in the studio recording, writing or producing a new act). He is one of the music industry’s most successful songwriters and producers.

Tommy and I first met seven years ago in Los Angeles via a mutual friend — Michael McDonald. This was also during the time that Tommy was wrapping up work on his first solo album, “Peace and Love”. How often have you heard of a record company courting an artist to release a record? Such was the case at Universal Music — it only confirms the amount of respect and admiration for Tommy’s work.

To learn more about Tommy and his latest work, listen to this recent interview with Inside Musicast. An expanded bio on Tommy is available here. “Peace and Love” can be sampled here.

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