Tom's Piano - Pianist & Vocalist

Biography

The fifth of five children, Tom Scott Listebarger was born and raised in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and started to play the piano before he could get up on the stool by himself. He remembers listening to his older sisters practice the piano and would develop his own simple arrangements of songs that they worked on for their lessons. His talent was quickly recognized and at the age of five, he was enrolled in piano lessons and continued them into high school. Tom recalls being kind of a lazy student though, as he was much more interested in playing radio pop songs by ear than in reading music and playing from sheet music . During his teens, he became interested in electric pianos, organs and synthesizer keyboards. His weekends and money were spent in local music stores.

After graduating from high school in 1982, Tom attended business school at the University of Iowa. He began taking piano lessons at the music school as an elective credit. He started developing a repertoire of pop and rock songs that he enjoyed while working on classical pieces which were assigned. "I really enjoyed playing on those big, black Steinway pianos in the music building," Tom recalls. "The music building was pretty close to my dormitory, so I'd go down there and play for a study break."

After graduating from business school in 1986, Tom began working in weekend bands while learning a variety of popular music. He started to work on his singing as a band mate encouraged him to be a "performer" as opposed to being just a "player". It was about then that he also began getting his feet wet playing solo in a few piano bars and private clubs. "I was working by day at a large telephone company and met a guitarist and vocalist there. We began playing together as a duo around town and it wasn't too long before we both quit our jobs and moved to Colorado Springs." They began working there in April of 1989 at a nightclub that the guitarist's friend owned. "We worked all over that town at every place imaginable," Tom recalls. "I started performing on pianos at hotels after growing weary of late nights in bar rooms." His repertoire grew to include a variety of jazz and pop piano standards, sing-alongs and request material.

In 1991, Tom moved up into the mountains and started performing at ski lodges, hotels, restaurants and summer resorts in Colorado and Utah. He took a job performing on cruise ships in 1996 with itineraries in Alaska, Bermuda and the Caribbean. "I traveled that year as far East, West, North and South as I had ever been," Tom recalls. Tired of "living out of the back of my pickup truck", Tom settled in the resort town of Dillon, Colorado in 1998 and resumed performing again at nearby ski resorts, hotels and restaurants. "I just love the mountains and being outdoors," he says. New to Dillon, Tom was recruited and agreed to play the piano for a local theatre group's production of Guys and Dolls during the summer of 1999. "They handed me a book of sheet music that was about two inches thick!" Tom remembers. "There was just no way you could memorize all those changes and everything. I had to follow the book! It was quite a challenge and turned out to be a very rewarding experience for me."

In 2001, Tom received an offer to go to Tokyo, Japan to perform in a nightclub. He played three contracts at the Ginza Crest Club and fell in love with Japan and traveling abroad. He soon received contracts at Asian five-star hotels, performing at the Westin Tokyo and most recently at the Grand Hyatt Seoul. "I've really been enjoying my opportunities to perform overseas. Intially, I figured it would be an interesting short-lived experience that I'd get tired of," Tom says," but it has turned out to be something that I just can't get enough of. When I'm back home in Colorado, I find myself daydreaming about my travels constantly. There is really nothing else I'd rather do!"