Tom Slade

Thomas A. Slade (April 6, 1952 – November 12, 2006) was an American football quarterback who played for the University of Michigan Wolverines football team from 1971-73.

Saginaw High School

Slade was born in Manotick, Michigan, but was raised in Saginaw, Michigan after being adopted. He played football, basketball and tennis for Saginaw High School and earned All-State honors in football as the quarterback at Saginaw High. Slade was married to former University of Michigan cheerleader, Pam St. John. He had two children, Andrew and Spencer from a previous marriage.

Quarterback at University of Michigan

After graduating from Saginaw High in 1970, Slade attended the University of Michigan where he played quarterback under coach Bo Schembechler. As a sophomore in 1971, Slade helped lead the 1971 team to an undefeated 11-0 record in the regular season. The Wolverines narrowly missed a national championship that year, losing the 1972 Rose Bowl game, 13-12, on a late field goal by Stanford. More than for his passing, Slade was known for being a tough run-blocker who cleared the way for Billy Taylor and the other Wolverine running backs after he handed the ball off. Dennis Franklin took over as quarterback in 1972, and Slade spent his junior and senior years as a backup for Franklin.

Tom Petty

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Thomas Earl Petty (born October 20, 1950) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. He is best known as the lead singer of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, but is also known as a member and co-founder of the late 1980s supergroup the Traveling Wilburys (under the pseudonyms of Charlie T. Wilbury, Jr. and Muddy Wilbury) and Mudcrutch.

He has recorded a number of hit singles with the Heartbreakers and as a solo artist, many of which remain heavily played on adult contemporary and classic rock radio. His music has been classified as rock and roll, heartland rock and even stoner rock. His music, and notably his hits, have become popular among younger generations as he continues to host sold-out shows. Throughout his career, Petty has sold more than 80 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time. In 2002, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Guthrie Govan

Guthrie Govan (born 27 December 1971 in Chelmsford, Essex, England) is an English guitarist and instructor, known for his work with the bands The Aristocrats, Asia (2001–2006), GPS, The Young Punx and The Fellowship, as well as Erotic Cakes (a vehicle for his own music) and Steven Wilson more recently. He is a noted guitar instructor through his work with the UK magazine Guitar Techniques, Guildford's Academy of Contemporary Music, Lick Library and formerly the Brighton Institute of Modern Music. He is the 1993 winner of Guitarist magazine's "Guitarist of the Year" competition.

Biography and early playing career

Govan began playing guitar aged three, encouraged by his father but initially learning mainly by ear. His father taught him five chords and introduced him to his extensive record collection. He began by listening to 1950s rock 'n' roll such as Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard, followed by The Beatles, Cream and Jimi Hendrix, and then Frank Zappa and AC/DC etc., working out chords and solos from listening to the records. Half-Scottish, Govan was also heavily influenced by Zal Cleminson of the Alex Harvey Band who he considers to have been "his Jimmy Page". At the age of nine he and his brother Seth Govan played guitar on a Thames Television programme called Ace Reports. At secondary school he was exposed, via older classmates, to "shred" guitarists of the time. His first electric guitar was a Gibson SG which he now keeps at home.