1990

30 Watt

Details: 30 Watt is the first band Tom and close friends Justin Whitley and Sam Harrell formed. This was 7th grade. Tom played a red Westone Spectrum electric guitar his parents bought him. No songs were really played all the way through. This group mostly jammed on riffs and learned little sections of “Freebird” while just getting comfortable with their instruments.

The band was called 30 Watt because Tom Blair and Justin Whitley both had a 30-watt Crate Amplifier that they used to create (mostly) noise. It was significant because Tom’s parents bought him the same 30-watt amp Justin’s parents bought him. The guys were surprised by the coincidence.

Members: Tom Blair (guitars), Justin Whitley (guitars), Sam Harrell (drums), no bass player.. There were a few other friends that came over to play bass, but eventually Justin Whitley was determined to take that challenge head-on. He switched over to bass and eventually stayed in this position in future projects as well.

Genre: Noise/Rock

Popular original songs: 0

Popular cover songs: Lynyrd Skynyrd riffs that Justin’s dad taught us

1992-1993

Sub-Domain

Details: By the 10th grade, loyal friends, Tom, Justin, and Sam had brought on board a lead guitar player named Cliffy Lee. This group was finally skilled enough to play through a few Metallica tunes, and this was Tom’s first band effort to start putting together original songs. By this time, Tom and his friends were starting to get into much heavier music; Metallica, Megadeth, and Pantera were a few important influences at the time.

A close friend of the band, an artist, heard that we were considering the name Sub-Domain. Computers and networks were starting to appear, and that was the most metal word combination to be found in a technology publication. The artist friend drew a flaming “Sub-Domain” title on a 11x17 paper canvas, and the band thought that was the coolest thing they’d ever seen so the name stuck.

Members: Tom Blair (vocals/guitar), Justin Whitley (vocals/bass), Sam Harrell (drums), Cliffy Lee (lead guitar)

Genre: Metal/Rock

Popular original songs: Fear, The First

Popular cover songs: Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” and “One”

1993-1996

Miller’s Tale

Details: