Thomas G. Leary

Thomas G. Leary is a Writer, Director, Producer, Artist, and President of Mule Dog Records, primarily known for his award winning musical animations; "Lotta Luck", "Ain't So Hard", "Peace and Harmony", and "Strangest Feelin'". Thomas was born in Rockford, Illinois to a musical family. Both his mother and father were teachers, pianists, and business owners. His mother played Chopin, and his father sang, and played old standards like Fats Waller on the piano. So with this background he was exposed to a wide range of music. At a young age he learned piano and organ, and through his childhood he added bugle, trumpet, clarinet, saxophone, flute, drums, violin and guitar to his repertoire. He studied music at Rock Valley College in Rockford, and Milton College in Milton, Wisconsin. In his teens, he began playing keyboards in local bands, and eventually became the main singer, songwriter and keyboard player for the local legendary rock group "Wheezer Lockinger". The band had their first radio play of their single "Gypsy Train", by winning a contest on local radio station WROK. Later they won another competition placing their track "Get out of My Life" in first position on the Y-95 "Homemade Jams" radio album. During the bands run, they performed at the Stevens Point, and Poynette pop festivals, and during the course of their career, backed up the original "Fleetwood Mac" with Peter Green, The Grateful Dead, R.E.O. Speedwagon, Humble Pie, Rotary Connection with Minnie Ripperton, The Flock, Crow, Fuse (the local forerunner to Cheap Trick), and many others. In 1995 he founded Mule Dog Records and released his first solo Album "Tom Leary". In 1997 he won the local competition of the True Value Jimmy Dean Country Showdown and his song "Bluegrass Baby", and reached #16 on the independent European country charts. After releasing his 2nd Album TL2, he won Best of Rockford competition, and appeared at the on the Waterfront festival in Rockford, and continued a short tour promoting that album events including Alpine Kiwanis Brat Days, and private parties in the area. He released his 3rd Album, in 2003, and his 4th most recent Album TL4 in Colorado in 2022. During the course of the production of the album Thomas began learning animation, and created a series of music videos showcasing his original songs from his Mule Dog albums. Entering some of these in International Film Festivals has so far garnered First Place awards for the films/music "Lotta Luck", and "Strangest Feelin'". With a strong technical background as a Microsoft certified Engineer, and Systems Administrator, he is embracing the challenges of the new creative tools being developed, and is excited to see what will be created with the partnership between humanity, and technology.