Tommy Jordan (guitar, banjo, mandolin, vocals), well-known in the Athens/Atlanta acoustic music circles, has been performing in Athens and the surrounding area consistently since arriving in Athens in late 1976.  He currently plays with the acoustic-electric duo, MrJordanMrTonks, along with William Tonks, and the well-established traditional acoustic band, String Theory.  He was an integral part of the early-1980s heyday of the Athens music scene with his roles in Turtle Bay Band and Men in Trees and also as a solo artist. With Turtle Bay, he played at the famous church steeple party where REM made their debut.  While working at the El Dorado Café in the Morton Theater in Athens, he got to witness firsthand the B-52s learning to play their instruments and developing their unique sound.  Tommy’s collaboration with William Tonks (MrJordanMrTonks) represents a move away from traditional roots music to high intensity guitar playing and tight harmony vocals.    

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He is the only musician to have performed at every one of the Athens Human Rights Festivals, as well as playing at AthFest, North Georgia Folk Festival, the Melting Point/Foundry, the Georgia Theatre, Eddie’s Attic, Red Clay Theater, the 40 Watt Club and the Bluebird Café in Nashville.  Tommy is the president of the Athens Folk Music and Dance Society (AFMDS) and has been the director of the North Georgia Folk Festival since 2008.  He speaks fluent acoustic and electric guitars, old time/clawhammer banjo and mandolin.  Current bands include MrJordanMrTonks, String Theory, Minglewood (Grateful Dead cover band with his son, Ben Jordan), WildJordan TonksCats (9-piece rock band), and various other ad-hoc and semi-permanent ensembles.  He taught a clawhammer banjo for a number of years at Steve Kaufman’s Acoustic Kamp.  He currently teaches guitar and music lessons privately and at the Good Dirt Clay Studio as part of the “Old Time String Band” class where he has given dozens of folks their musical starts in both classroom and individual settings.

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Before retiring from the University of Georgia in 2016, Tommy conducted research and taught photogrammetry and remote sensing for 35 years at the Department of Geography where he was the Associate Director of the Center for Geospatial Research.  He is a nationally certified Photogrammetrist and served as president of the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS) in 2019-2020.  He continues to maintain his Part 107 Drone Pilots License.

 

 

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