Tommy D. Bradford
Tommy Dean Bradford (born March 4, 1964 in Virginia Beach) is a "retired" bass player who has lived in many states and overseas (Navy Brat) but has spent the majority of his life in Texas. Tommy's music career has spanned many INSTRUMENTS but focused the majority of his career playing bass. Bradford was the founding bass player for the American heavy metal band Pantera. Bradford's bass playing style was influenced by bass greats Geddy Lee, Chris Squire, John Paul Jones, Sting, Michael Anthony, and Stanley Clark.
Tommy was a member of Pantera during the band's start-up years, from 1980-1982. Tommy met Vince Abbott during the summer of 1980. At that time, Tommy was playing in a band named Pegasus with Terry Glaze and Donny Hart. Bradford, Glaze, and Hart were seeking a new drummer and coincidentally, Vince and brother Darrell Abbott were seeking a bass player. The five agreed to get together and jam at the Abbotts' house. They covered songs from Def Leppard's On Through the Night and realized there was chemistry. The group iterated through many names and settled on the name Pantera. Bradford's studio work appears "intact" on the early Pantera albums and some of his bass lines were re-recorded with Rex's new sound.
Outside of their work with Pantera, Bradford and Abbott performed together in the Jazz Orchestra at Bowie High School (Arlington, Texas). This secondary gig provided a basis for the unique groove metal style that Pantera later became known.
Tommy Bradford's status in the music world has remained unknown to many. After his departure from Pantera and the Jazz scene, Tommy retired the bass and focused on studies at the University of Texas at Arlington. He remained in contact with Pantera and frequently helped with sound at shows. In pursuit of his successful career with software development companies, his music career took a back seat.
He more recently has acquired a hobby of photography and has shot many Lord Tracy shows with the reformed Lord Tracy band line up of original members Kinley "Barney" Wolfe and Chris Craig, and Brian Harris. Additionally, Tommy takes pictures of his daughter and her dance performances.
Tommy has quietly followed the success of his former band mates and occasionally attends a show or runs into Vince at a Dallas Stars game. The death of Darrell recently brought Tommy back together with Vince, Terry, and Rex at the Darrell's private service in Arlington. A notable moment from Terry's appearance on VH1's "Behind the Music: Pantera", occurred at this service with Bradford. Terry told the story of how he and Bradford discussed how powerful it was that Darrell was being buried with the infamous guitar of Eddie Van Halen. They both agreed that Darrell was resting with a giant smile on his face as he was a avid fan of Eddie. Bradford and Glaze occasionally joke AbOUT Bradford picking up the bass again and working with Vince and Terry to create an original Pantera line up show.
Tommy currently resides in Colleyville, Texas with his wife and 2 kids.
Discography
Pantera
- Metal Magic (1983)