Cheap Trick bassist opens up about 12 strings and Rock Your Speech
Exclusive video interview with FBPO’s Jon Liebman
October 15, 2018
By David Sands
Cheap Trick’s Tom Petersson is known for his unorthodox sound. And, not unrelatedly, for his twelve-string bass, an instrument he invented in the 1970s and has been playing ever since. Petersson’s bass-playing has been a pillar of Cheap Trick’s music for decades now; he co-founded the celebrated hard rock group with guitarist Rick Nielsen in 1974 and, excluding a seven-year hiatus from 1980 to 1987, has been raucously rocking out with Cheap Trick for the entire ride. In addition to his work with those rock-and-roll tricksters, he’s also released the five-song LP Tom Petersson and Another Language and collaborated with artists like Donovan, Concrete Blonde, Frank Black, Mick Jagger, Willie Nelson and members of the Mavericks. More recently, with is wife Alison, he’s been working on a music therapy project called Rock Your Speech (rockyourspeech.com) inspired by his son Liam, who has worked to overcome a speech disorder connected with autism spectrum disorder.
FBPO’s Jon Liebman spoke with Petersson about 12-string basses, Rock Your Speech and a new Cheap Trick album during a recent concert stop at the DTE Energy Music Theatre in Clarkston.
Watch our interview with Tom!
