Tom Peschges

At 15 years old Tom took his dads car and went to a Keg Party at a local gravel pit.  There was a guy there with a guitar and he was the center of attention, especially the girls.   The very next day, Tom dug his sisters old Sears Craftsman guitar out of the attic and began blistering his fingers.   Like most teenage boys who pick up the guitar, it had nothing to do with a love of music.

He played for a short time with a group called “Touch of Silver” playing country and 50’s rock and roll as a dance band for local clubs weddings.    Moving to college, Tom found another band to play with… the Hooterville Fire Department band out of Sibley Iowa,which was the back up band for a Gay Hairdresser who mostly sang Charlie Pride songs…. (not making this up)   

Living in North Dakota in his early 20’s and lacking inspiring role models, Tom let the guitar sit in the living room as furniture for about 25 years.  With his 50th birthday looming, he decided to try to recapture a bit of his fading youth and began playing again and singing  too since,  having quit smoking, he now had air in his lungs to work with once again.   A little 3 piece Bluegrass band in a local bar was playing a lot of songs he recognized.   

Soon enough, he would be going to bluegrass festivals and discover the Minnesota Bluegrass and Old Time Music Association which is chock full of really talented and genuinely nice people providing all kinds of opportunities to play and learn and be inspired.  That led to many friendships , including all of the members of the Double Down Daredevils.   As the Daredevils frontman, Tom plays rhythm guitar, sings lead and harmony vocals, handles much of the emcee work, and also runs the back office handling, bookings, scheduling practices, promotion etc.   And he loves all of it