This week on Thinkin’ and Drinkin’ we have Tom Beaupre. Tom talks about discovering his love for music in college and how he transitioned from sports and business to music. Tune in to hear the journey that led him to Florida Georgia Line and how he is working to combine his love for both music and business through helping other musicians and artists with wealth management.
Meet Tom Beaupre
Beaupre has been the bass player for Florida Georgia Line’s touring band since its inception in 2010. You can almost see him mentally converting tours to years when asked about the number of shows he’s played, that number is well over 1000.
Beaupre’s love of music comes a long way from dazzling stages and rock (or country) music stardom. It comes from a third-grade music fair where, among the trumpets, saxophones and flutes, he saw an upright bass.
“I loved it, the feel of it, the sound of it.” Lessons followed. In middle school, the bass was turned on its side and electrified … the band Green Day figures into Beaupre’s recollection of these years. Guitar lessons followed in high school and college.
He went to Bloomsburg University to study business, but switched majors to music, studying jazz, theory and classical guitar. He played open mics. His pop punk group, William West, won BU’s battle of the bands one year.
“My professors encouraged me to shoot for the stars,” says Beaupre. Instead of looking for recording internships close to home in Paoli, PA, he sent dozens of applications to Nashville, and he landed one at Emerald Studios.
After graduating from Bloomsburg University, Beaupre worked for about a year for newspapers in the Paoli area and doing music gigs on weekends. Bigger stages beckoned. Beaupre took a chance and moved to Nashville.
He tuned pianos, served lattes at Starbucks, gigged on weekends and lived with roommates, who included Brian Kelley and Tyler Hubbard. Hubbard and Kelley formed Florida Georgia Line in 2010, bringing a rock attitude to country music. Beaupre had kept his chops sharp and was a natural fit for backing the duo live with his guitar skills.
In the summer of 2011, the band manager said, ‘Get ready to not be home much.’ That was the first time I was paying all of my bills with music.”
Things were happening, and fast. Florida Georgia Line opened for well-known country artists Jake Owen (2012), Luke Bryan (2013) and Jason Aldean (2014) and 11 dates for singer/songwriter Taylor Swift in 2013. They began headlining their own tours, as well, in 2013.
The success continued and FGL has released three albums, 12 number one songs, 4.2 million albums sold worldwide, and remains the first and only country act to achieve RIAA’s diamond certification (10 million copies sold) for their breakout song “Cruise” which is the best selling Digital country single of all time. Tom has toured all over Canada, Europe Australia and played for FGL while they headlined the biggest venues including Wrigley field, Target field and Fenway park.
After playing hundreds of shows and talking with lots of touring professionals on the road, Beaupre saw a common theme. Touring musicians and crew need help. They need people that understand the music industry and this ever changing landscape. There is potential to have a long career, live comfortably and even retire. There is opportunity no matter how new the career or gig and Tom is eager to help people who have and want to make music a full time job.
In this episode, you’ll hear
How he ended up being the longest member of Florida Georgia Line outside of Brian & Tyler
Why he is part of a wealth management group and how he wants to help other musicians and artists plan for their future.