Dave Fontaine  Bass       Tom Atkins - Guitars/Vocals        Bob Napierski - Drums 
 

A constant performing act in the upstate NY music scene, the Tom Atkins Band has been thrilling audiences with their live shows in a wide variety of venues for over eight years. Performing their own custom blend of hard rock, blues, and progressive rock, Tom Atkins, Bob Napierski, and Dave Fontaine deliver a high-powered audio shower of classic hard rock. 

The Tom Atkins Band is powered by the belief that witnessing a live rock band is a timeless, emotional experience. They believe that experience should be ever-evolving, with a band never playing the same show or even the same song quite the same way. Founder Tom Atkins simply sums it up: "If you want to hear the record, then get a DJ to play it. If you want to be a part of a musical experience - come to one of our shows.”  The band’s belief is that there is no substitute for a living and breathing rock n roll band expressing themselves, taking the music further than where they found it. There is an energy to the expression of music, and the Tom Atkins Band channels that through the emotionally charged music they play and with the skill and passion with which they play it. 

Members of the Tom Atkins Band have opened up for a multitude of diverse international touring acts, such as Robin Trower, Blue Oyster Cult, Breaking Benjamin, Whey Jennings, Cory Glover of Living Color, and Jimi Bell of Beyond Purple. Bob, drummer, and Tom, guitarist/lead vocalist, have been performing in different bands since 1997, including the release of several original music CDs.   

 Founder, guitarist, and lead vocalist Tom Atkins is a Guitar Institute of Technology (G.I.T.) graduate (1992) as well as a SUNY Oneonta Music and Music Industry Graduate (1995). When he is not performing with the Tom Atkins Band, he can be found spotlighted at various capital district open mics and blues jams. Outside of the 518, Tom has performed with some of the greatest guitarists ever to play the guitar, including legends such as Steve Vai, Eric Johnson, George Lynch, Paul Gilbert, Andy Timmons, Richie Kotzen, Norman Brown, and Vernon Reid. Like them, Tom has tremendous pride in delivering the best possible performance he can give in every single show.   

Drummer Bob Napierski specializes in a very interactive and entertaining style of drumming, often using anything hittable within arm's reach in an inspiring and beautiful expression of rhythm. The Tom Atkins Band is one of the only bands in the Capital District that regularly features Bob's blazingly fast and wildly entertaining drum solo, mixing in medleys of famous songs from Led Zeppelin, The Who, Rage Against the Machine, and Santana. So many of the songs performed by the Tom Atkins Band feature Bob's power and technical skill that he exemplifies in the ongoing historical importance of the drum set.    

The latest addition to the Tom Atkins band came in June 2021 with the entrance of bassist Dave Fontaine. A regular from the band "Devils Due," Dave provides the perfect blend of rock bass tone and the progressive foundation that every hard rock band needs. Dave has performed with Tom and Bob several times over the last few decades in different cover bands, but Tom and Dave first began playing music professionally together in their band "Reason" back in 1995. Dave has added his powerful bass tone to the Tom Atkins Band, contributing to a sonic landscape that is completely full of over-the-top musical performances, spellbinding grooves and demonstrating the true spirit of American Rock n Roll. 

Read more: Liam Sweeny Interview of Tom Atkins on Radio Radio X

Read more: Tom Atkins's Bio