Tom Ginkel
Inducted 2008
Tom’s first introduction to music was at age 10 when his parents bought him a clarinet. He despised it, and at age 13 he traded it in for a Harmony flat-top guitar. Again, it was hard to play and he despised it. So in 1963 he traded it in for Italian Noble electric guitar. It was easy to play and he persuaded his buddies to purchase other instruments and they began their garage practices In New Ulm. Tom played with a number of bands through the 1960’s- most notably The Shags- and in 1972 formed the band Clover. By 1973 the gigs were so thick he quit his day job, and the band performed 200-300 times a year for the next 10 years. In the mid-1980’s nightclubs and ballrooms started cutting back live music, so he returned to teaching math and played mostly weekends. Eventually Clover cut back to about 50 dates a year and the long road trips were few. Tom said “Playing music was, and still is, a joyous, life-enhancing experience. I wouldn’t change a thing.”
