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Artist
Tom Healey Band
6+ albums
bluesblues rock
about
Many mortals trek through life in a relentless search for happiness, as if it’s a particular destination we are trying to reach or a checkpoint we are trying to pass. Happiness is often thought of as an ultimatum; a life goal we aspire to achieve. Tom Healey didn’t have this mentality. For Tom Healey, happiness was a road traveled, not a destination. Not a day went by in which Tom Healey failed to smile. He lived each day like it was a gift. Healey taught at Albany High for 23 years, educating students in both US history and philosophy. Before that he worked as a bicycle messenger, a prison ward, a flourmill worker, a steel mill worker in Russia. Yet, when queried by students, “What was your favorite job, Mr. Healey?,” the answer Tom Healey gave was always the same, in his deep, dulcet mumble: “Teaching,” which was typically followed by a wholehearted chuckle and an intriguing anecdote. By day, Tom Healey was an educator and a former working class hero, but by night, he embodied an entirely different persona: Healey was an animated musician. Tom Healey was the front man for The Tom Healey Band, a blues group that hailed from Albany, in which he played guitar, harmonica, and sang. The Tom Healey Band released two albums, Pearl Street (2001), followed by Tough Dog (2006). Healey’s talents resulted in his induction into the New York Blues Hall of Fame, a major feat for your average history teacher. Then again, Tom Healey was anything but average. Heartbreakingly, Healey’s a
