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Tom DeSavia

@desavia

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Vinyl collector, music publisher, author, podcaster, uses humor as defense mechanism, Italian, Grammy® nominated, Libra, 5'10", flat feet, libtard

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Happy birthday, Jackson Browne. When I was about 10 years old I thought Jackson was the deepest songwriter I’d ever heard at that point. Still do. Attempted to match the haircut throughout my youth… Trying to get some of that Browne/Petty consistency to the mane. Alas, my eventual calling would be bearded Lloyd Christmas. Gonna go listen to “The Pretender” now, because it is still amazing. by @desavia

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3 days ago

Okay this was actually profoundly difficult - and so, so many beloveds are missing… but If I’m being totally honest, these were 9 earthquakes that completely re-wired my brain and prompted my personal musical journey.
Music is life ✌🏼

#my9albums taken in California by @desavia

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4 days ago

Home dealing with the return of Covid and feeling sorry for myself, as one does. Been seeing posts acknowledging the anniversary of Tom Petty leaving us nine years ago today, and I’m instantly transferred back to that day. When I got the news it hit me just harder than I ever would have assumed… I remember driving immediately over to Matt Messer’s house and just sitting in silence, punctuated by some tears, and ultimately the man’s music. Today I want to celebrate the life of one of America’s greatest voices and writers, and how amazing it was to live in the same time as him.

I didn’t know Tom, but got to meet him a couple of times. I had always hated this pic, because I looked like such an awestruck fan, now I love it because i look like such an awestruck fan. Forever thankful to @jonbahr for capturing this candid moment.

Thank God for Tom Petty and his Heartbreakers. Man, did they matter.

I’m not feeling bad for myself anymore, I’m celebrating a beautiful life. Music is life. ✌🏼 by @desavia

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10 days ago

The main purpose of a music publisher is to earn the trust of a writer, and make them feel seen and safe, and all that sort of junk.

It’s @bellawhitemusic ‘s world, we just live in it.

Music is life ✌🏼

@bmgmusicpublishing
@rounderrecords taken in Moroccan Lounge by @desavia

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13 days ago

When life gets all 2026 on you, there’s always record club to bring the sunshine. Love these jerks a lot. taken in Mother Wolf Los Angeles by @desavia

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19 days ago

One year ago today my life significantly changed for the better. As a lot of you know, I was born with essential tremors, which quite literally haunted me through my whole life… As a kid, it was great material for the other kids to make fun of me for… Ironically, it helped me develop a sense of humor, as I realized if I made fun of it first, it halted the mocking. As a 19 year-old entering an unknown music business, people assumed I was either on drugs or scared and nervous… It truly sucked, and left me feeling wounded at every snide comment… but it was my cosmetic burden to carry through this life, and I spent a lifetime of building up pretty tough skin, shakes and all. Thanks to my brother (and fellow shaker) Jeff Waye - kingpin of @tsmsayswhat - for tipping me off to a surgery at Cedar Sinai Medical Center, which would make all this my past. To say my world changed a year ago is not hyperbole… and I’m so incredibly thankful each and every day when I wake up that I’m not saddled by this childhood bully anymore. Did I mention I drink coffee for the first time in my life now? Like, I drink it a lot. It’s pretty great.

I included a video of myself off my meds with my hand at its normal tremble, just before the surgery. I watch this video all the time, to remind me of the miracle of this procedure.

I still can’t believe that shaking is my past. It’s a small thing, but one that makes me smile at least once every single day.

(I also included my Sloth from the Goonies/day after surgery face pic to please and arouse you) by @desavia

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23 days ago

Ol’ Rhett uncovered some old photographic evidence of the @old97s “Satellite Rides” sessions. Recorded at Willie Nelson’s Pedernales, TX compound in mid-late 2000, this would be the band’s last for Elektra. Somehow, corporate America again gave us the keys to the car to create an album… and tho many of the memories are justifiably blurred, we emerged unscathed and with an amazing record to boot. The before times were definitely better in some ways, and recording albums was one of ‘em. We were all under the influence of Murry’s 60’s garage rock playlists, various boozes and maybe (MAYBE) some wacky tobacky. I have no excuse for the chin hair. Sorry.
Some of the best days of my life. Music is everything. ✌🏼 taken in Pedernales, Texas by @desavia

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24 days ago

Having summertime middle-aged goth festival withdrawals. As one does.

From a simpler, simpler time known as 2023. by @desavia

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a month ago

25 years ago this morning, I woke up and turned my head to a hotel window in the room I had arrived in the night before. I left the curtains open, as I had an important early work meeting I had to be at, and figured the bright morning sun would guarantee I got out of bed in time. It worked. The sky was as clear and blue as I can remember - oddly, that moment is one of my strongest memories of that day. I lay in bed struggling to get up to shower - which was needed as I knew the prior evening had left me smelling like too many cigarettes and just enough whisky - when I heard the explosion. I peered out that window at the SoHo Grand as much as the restraints would let me, watching obvious hysteria build on West Broadway, below. Before long, I was barefoot in my coworker @jsimms3000’s room, watching a tower fall and trying to grasp what the fuck was happening. Circumstances would keep me in NYC for 12 days, wandering confused, scared, and dazed with friends and locals in the greatest city in the world. Everything that happened in the ensuing hours and days are equal parts crystal clear and an absolute blur. Today I’m reflecting on all the beautiful souls lost that day, and the friends and family I relied on during that surreal and devastatingly sad time in our history. I don’t talk about this experience a lot, but I think about it often. God bless New York and New Yorkers. Be nice to each other today, friends. by @desavia

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a month ago

If I asked you real nicely, would you get in my yellow VW bug and go with me to the Oaks Mall? We can smoke cigarettes and go to the arcade? Yes, you can touch the fabric of my shirt… taken in Thousand Oaks, California by @desavia

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a month ago

Them: “Have you ever been *truly* happy?”

Me: “Just the once…”

Bill Withers 👑 by @desavia

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a month ago

The person who gave us all a little faith in humanity has left the room. This is a sad, sad day. I was working with Linda in the late 90s/early 2000s when the Trio 2 LP came out, and was always floating on air just to be in the presence of these three super humans. My best story of that era was when Dolly flirted wildly with @rhettmiller at a Trio video shoot in Hollywood… it’s a real good story, but his to tell…

Dolly Parton changed the world with music. That’s the whole point, right? Fly away, Dolly… And thank you from every last one of us. by @desavia

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2 months ago