Thomas O'Keefe

Thomas O'Keefe (born January 22, 1964) is a North Carolina musician best known for his work with Antiseen and Train.

O'Keefe was born in New Haven, Connecticut, and lived in Connecticut until the age of 14. His family moved to North Carolina in 1978 and he attended South Iredell High School, finishing in 1982. After discovering punk rock, O'Keefe joined and started a number of bands.

O'Keefe and Jeff Clayton started Jeff Leopard in 1983 and released Jeff Leopard Live at the Yellow Rose in 1984. Jeff Leopard's first show was in Boone, North Carolina, on October 1, 1983. Other North Carolina bands on that bill were N.R.G, Antiseen and Fetchin Bones. O'Keefe tried out for the lead guitar with Antiseen in 1984, but it never came to be.

"I was too broke to afford an amp" O'Keefe stated in a mid-1990s Antiseen interview.

Judas Bullethead was the spinoff of Jeff Leopard. O'Keefe recorded it as Judas Leopard, his Jeff Leopard stage name. Clayton recorded as "Bullethead" an old nickname given to him by Joe Young. "If they Itch, Scratch Em" was released in 1987 and reviewed in Spin in 1987. All instruments were played by Clayton and O'Keefe, even though neither was a drummer. The follow-up "Honest, It's just a Cold Sore", was released in 1988. Honest was recorded with a lot of studio musicians including members of the band Black Acid Disco. After Judas Bullethead played a few shows, the band released "The King is Dead / Oh Baby" in 1989 and went on hiatus. A long talked about Greatest Hits CD is still a possibility. O'Keefe officially joined Antiseen in 1988 and first recorded the Blood of Freaks EP. Antiseen recorded over 20 records during the early 1990s. The band toured Europe three times and played concerts all over the US, including a cancelled show in Los Angeles on the day of the LA Riots. O'Keefe recorded the covers LP Hell and after a very short stint as the band's manager, he stopped playing in Antiseen in fall 1995.

O'Keefe first worked as a tour manager with Lustre in 1996. (Antiseen drummer Greg Clayton was the drummer of Lustre.) After Lustre was dropped by A&M Records, O'Keefe worked with D Generation,Whiskeytown, Stir, Mandy Moore and Tonic. O'Keefe started tour-managing Train as their debut CD TRAIN was just hitting. Since 1999, TRAIN has played hundred of concerts in the US, Canada, Europe and Australia. He also toured with Rockstar Supernova in 2007 with Johnny Colt, Lucas Rossi, Gilby Clarke and Tommy Lee.

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