Tom Vaughn (musician) - Early Life

Early Life

Born Thomas Wade Vaughn on October 14, 1936 in Benton, Kentucky, young Tom Vaughn began his music study on the piano around the age of five under the tutelage of his mother, Elizabeth. The piano was the instrument of choice for their family. Robert Wade, an uncle, was employed as a pianist by the New York and San Francisco ballet companies.

At age 10, his family, which also included four girls, relocated to Pontiac, Michigan, near Detroit. During his adolescence, he studied classical music with Harold Deremier. At age 12, Vaughn experienced the genius of Art Tatum, who was visiting Deremier. Vaughn stated, "I hadn't been exposed to music like that before." "That was amazing" and shifted his focus to jazz. In his mid-teens he was jamming in Detroit with other young musicians including Kenny Burrell, Paul Chambers, and Elvin Jones.

Vaughn graduated from Eureka College in Illinois with a degree in history while playing piano in area clubs. He and his sweetheart Beverle Jean were married, and the couple started a family when Sheila Denise was born in 1961. Two other children followed: Tom, Jr. in 1963; and Angela Suzanne in 1965. A strong interest in religion led him to enroll in Yale Divinity School, where he earned a doctorate in theology.

He entered the Episcopal priesthood, and in 1964 his first position was assistant to the rector at St. John's Episcopal Church in Midland, Michigan, two hours north of Detroit. Vaughn still played concerts at colleges and clubs sporadically, but the 8am Sunday service limited his travel. That same year Father Tom sat in with Gene Krupa's quartet in Detroit, where he caught the attention of producer George Wein.