Thomas Hamer Kelly V was born on April 18, 1952 and grew up in Rancho Palos Verdes, CA. His mother took him to a concert by Andres Segovia when Tom was 5 and thus began his great love affair with the guitar. Inspired by classical composers like Claude Debussy and Gustav Holst and the burgeoning music of the 60’s, especially psychedelic and classical rock, he began composing his own songs and formed several bands. “Still,” “Yellow Autumn,” and Museum,” were the three that were precursors to his longest-lived collaboration, “Mistress Quickly,” (named for the Shakespearean character). By the time Museum was formed in 1971 he was writing all of his original music in notation, which he would hand out for the band members to learn and perform. He wrote primarily symphonic rock that carried his own particular stamp, certainly in what now would be called the Progressive vein.  Mistress Quickly was selected to record some demos, but by the time they were done and delivered to the recording company, the Progressive wave was over and Disco was lapping on the shores of the music industry.

Three recordings, “Burnt Peas,” “A Quail’s House,” and “Spinning Through Eternity,” are being offered after his untimely death in 2017. They were composed and performed entirely by Tom alone in the years after Mistress Quickly’s demise.

Most frequently compared to Mike Oldfield, Steve Hackett, Anthony Phillips, The Enid and Gentle Giant, fans of these artists are likely to be interested to hear these recordings.