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Down in the groove
Whillock finds life after Toadstool in Groovedaddy
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FarkIn the mid-1990s, Toadstool Jamboree hit the local music scene with its debut CD, “Homegrown.” By 2000, the band had built a strong reputation for its live shows and informally became known simply as Toadstool.
But before the band could become “the ’Stool,” singer-songwriter Tom Whillock had had enough.
Family demands were increasingly competing for his attention, and he hadn’t written much new material he thought was good enough.
“I didn’t want to do the same old same old,” Whillock said.
So he told his band mates after playing at the Deadwood Jam in 2002 that he needed a break at least until the end of the year. When the end of the year had come and gone, he still didn’t feel ready to start again.
“I just wasn’t into it,” he said.
And, except for the occasional reunion show, that was the end of Toadstool. But being out of the spotlight didn’t mean Whillock wasn’t writing. Songs were coming, so he wrote them.
“It started out, me writing and demoing things myself” in a basement studio setup, he said. Eventually, he came up with a batch of songs that met his standards.
“I found spiritual insights that I thought I could hold onto,” he said. “They became very powerful songs.”
As a solo acoustic CD began to take form, Whillock was getting calls to reform Toadstool Jamboree.
“Somebody heard I might be playing again,” he said, “People were calling for Toadstool stuff, so I didn’t know what to do.”
“While I was demoing all that stuff by myself, that’s when we turned it into Groovedaddy,” he said.
Adding guitarist Bobby Sundby and drummer Earl Bartholow formed the trio that originally bore the Groovedaddy name. Since then, Mike Hermanson has joined as the bass player, and Nate Larson provides supplemental percussion.
Now the band is prepping its first CD, which will include new originals and some reworked versions of a couple of songs from Toadstool’s “Homegrown.”
“I want a good recording of those,” Whillock said, adding that people still sing along to the old songs at Groovedaddy shows.
“It’s so flattering to have that after all these years,” he said.
But he hopes to avoid simply rehashing the Toadstool Jamboree experience.
“This batch of originals as it turned into a band arrangement have turned out really well. Some of the new stuff is really dance-floor friendly.”
Although he admits to some reluctance about the competing interests of music and family, Whillock is focused on giving those two parts of his life their due. His two daughters and their various activities are at the top of the list.
“It’s more fun for me to go see those guys do their thing,” he said.
And when it comes to the music, “The barometer now is, ‘Do I want my kids to hear it?’”
But an unsolicited compliment from one of his daughters about the new batch of songs erased any doubts.
Whillock intends for Groovedaddy to become a local fixture. As such, expect to see the band at summer festivals and the fair.
“I just want to be the fun party band for my friends in the Black Hills,” Whillock said.
Contact Eric Lochridge at 394-8321 or eric.lochridge@rapidcityjournal.com.
Groovedaddy, from left, is bassist Mike Hermanson, guitarist and vocalist Tom Whillock, guitarist Bobby Sundby and drummer Earl Bartholow. Percussionist Nate Larson is not pictured. (Courtesy photo by Johnny Sundby)
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