ABOUT TONY

Tony was born and raised in Martinsburg, WV. He spent his younger years playing outside, drawing, and building clubhouses with his friends.

Tony’s inspiration to become a musician and singer was instilled in him early on in his life. His mother made up a song about Tony that she would sing to him at bedtime. And even though they didn’t have a piano in their house, his father would visit their local church in the evenings and play the piano for his family.

Before becoming a professional musician, Tony had several jobs and careers. In high school he worked as a pretzel maker, a hamburger flipper, a grocery bagger, and shoe salesman! After graduating from Shepherd University, Tony taught elementary school for 11 years.

During his time as a teacher, Tony began writing songs that he would play for his students. His students loved the songs so much that other adults, performers, friends, and family members encouraged him to record them and play them for larger audiences.

In August 2014, Tony finally decided to take the chance at playing music professionally. He also started going by his stage name, “Tony M. Music.” Then in February 2017, Tony brought, Jolene, into the band! Jolene* is his guitar that was brought to life with a pair of googly eyes.Since becoming a professional musician, Tony has visited and played for hundreds of different schools, libraries, and family events. In early 2018, Tony and childhood friend, “Beth Lehman, founded the Tony M. Music and Arts Foundation with the goal to bring meaningful arts experiences and collaborations to the Berkeley County, WV area.

Tony is also married and has 3 beautifully spirited daughters. He has 2 pups (Finely and Tucker), an orange cat (Annie), 2 bunny rabbits (Duke and Lola) and one gerbil (Samantha). When he’s not playing music, Tony loves reading, biking, exercising, fishing, canoeing/kayaking, working with power tools, camping, and scheming about his next big idea!

*The name, “Joleen,” came from a little girl in Tony’s youngest daughter’s pre-K classroom. She asked if he would name his guitar, Joleen, after her favorite song by Dolly Parton, “Jolene.”