Tommy Funderburk

Tommy Funderburk is an American rock singer and CEO of technology company Muzit.

Tommy Funderburk
GenresRock
Occupation(s)Singer, songwriter, CEO
InstrumentsVocals
Associated acts
  • Airplay
  • The Front
  • What If
  • King of Hearts
  • Funderburk Miner
  • West Coast All Stars
Websitetommyfunderburk.com

He has recorded with artists such as Jon Anderson, Laura Branigan, Coverdale-Page, Melissa Manchester, Magnum, Mötley Crüe, Steve Lukather, Richard Marx, Rick Springfield, Richie Kotzen, Starship, REO Speedwagon, Whitesnake, Yes[1] and many others.

In 2013, Funderburk founded Muzit, Inc., an online media company that is a marketing platform to connect artists and fans in the peer-to-peer network which launched January 2016.[2]

Early life

Funderburk was born in North Carolina, and grew up in the south. His favorite music included The Beatles, all kinds of R&B, soul and Gospel. In college, he played in a band he and some friends started called Sanctuary. He studied to be a high school history teacher and recorded jingles at a local studio. The band once opened for Andraé Crouch. Crouch and his drummer encouraged him to come to L.A.[3]

Music career

Airplay was a short-lived American band, formed by David Foster and Jay Graydon. Funderburk was chosen as the lead singer for the band by the duo. They released a self-titled album in 1980, containing "Nothin' You Can Do About It" (originally recorded by The Manhattan Transfer) and a cover of Earth, Wind & Fire's "After the Love Has Gone", written by Foster and Graydon with Bill Champlin.

In the early '80s Funderburk met drummer Bob Wilson from the group Seawind, and in 1983 they formed The Front who recorded a self-titled album, followed by a U.S and a European tour.

In 1986 he performed lead vocals on the song "Never Too Late to Start" on the soundtrack to the film Running Scared.

In 1987 Wilson and Funderburk reformed their band, brought in yet another former Seawind member, Larry Williams, on keyboards and saxophone, changed the band's name to What If, and released a self-titled album, with guitar work from Michael Landau, on RCA.

In 1988 Funderburk met Bruce Gaitsch at a recording session with Richard Marx who were looking for a singer that could sing higher Marx. The band, King of Hearts, were signed to Polygram, who never released any of the band's material. They were released a decade later by a Japanese record company as 1989. Some of the songs were later re-mixed and together with some new songs their first album was finally released in 1994 in Sweden, Japan and Germany. The King of Hearts lineup was Funderburk and Gaitsch together with David Miner on bass, Bill Cantos on keyboards and Billy Ward on drums. As a follow-up to the first King of Hearts Funderburk and Gaitsch recorded Joy Will Come, that was released during late 1996 in Sweden, Germany and Japan. In December 1997, Thoughtscape released a King of Hearts compilation CD called No Matter What.

Funderburk and Miner recorded and released an acoustic collection of songs The Dwelling Place in 1995. It included a mix of classic hymns and songs originally written to be used for worship at the Malibu Vineyard Church where he was a worship leader at the time. In 1998 Funderburk recorded Naturally, an a cappella album of classic hits from the seventies, with the vocal group West Coast All Stars (featuring Funderburk, Chicago's Jason Scheff, Bobby Kimball from Toto and Joseph Williams former Toto) versions.

In 2004 Tommy Funderburk co-founded Sovereign Artists, a record company that released the first Heart album in over a decade, Jupiters Darling.[4]

In January 2005 the Italian record company Frontiers released Funderburk's debut album, Anything For You.

Muzit

Funderburk is the CEO and founder of P2P monetization company, Muzit, a company that tracks the downloading behavior of file-sharers, and allows copyright owners to contact these file-sharers through their ISP, in order to offer them discounts, promotions, donations and for other marketing purposes and was launched on January 8, 2016.[2]

Discography

Studio albums
  • Anything for You (2005)

with Airplay
  • Airplay (1980)

with The Front
  • The Front (1983)

with What If
  • What If (1987)

with King of Hearts
  • King of Hearts (1994)
  • Joy Will Come (1996)
  • 1989 (1999)

with Funderburk Miner
  • The Dwelling Place (1994)

with West Coast All Stars
  • Naturally (1998)

References
  1. Macan, Edward. Rocking the Classics: English Progressive Rock and the Counterculture. Oxford, UK: Oxford UP, 1997. 234.
  2. Messitte, Nick. "Muzit's Trace Platform: Did This Company Just Figure Out How To Monetize Music Piracy?".
  3. "Welcome to my site…". Tommy Funderburk.com. January 2, 2014. Retrieved August 14, 2014.
  4. Morris, Chris. "New Indie Taps Older Acts." Billboard 116.15 (Apr 10, 2004): 8.
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