Tommi Zender is a Chicago-based singer-songwriter multi-instrumentalist who also teaches at Old Town School of Folk Music. He has an encyclopedic knowledge of popular and unpopular music and is well-versed in many guitar styles. Zender has performed with Steve Dawson, Phil Angotti, Dag Juhlin, Rachel Drew, Gerald Dowd, Peter Mulvey, and many others. He has self-released 4 albums of original music.

Born and raised in the Boston area, Gerald began his musical life at the age of 10.  Playing drums throughout high school in rock bands, orchestras and with theater companies, he attended the famed Tanglewood Institute in the summers of 1985 and 1986.  In 1986, he was accepted into both the Manhattan School of Music and the New England Conservatory of Music as a classical percussionist.  He chose NEC, studying jazz and classical percussion with Bob Moses, Fred Buda, Vic Firth and Arthur Press, while also playing in combos led by Moses, Dave Holland, George Garzone and Hankus Netsky.  Gerald continued to play in local rock bands, jazz combos, orchestras and musical theaters until 1991, when he moved to Chicago to attend DePaul University, securing the drum chair in the top big band upon his arrival.  Since then, he has gone on to play with some of the top rock, jazz and country musicians in the Chicago area and nationwide, and has extensive studio credits to his name.  He’s been living and working in Chicago for the past 20+ years.His longest post has been with alt-country godfather Robbie Fulks, with whom he has recorded and played nationally and overseas since 2000.  And since 2006, Gerald has been playing with one of the creators of 'kindie rock':  Justin Roberts and his band, the Not-Ready-For-Naptime Players.  They play more than 100 shows a year around North America, and the band's last two albums -- Recess (2013) and Jungle Gym (2010) -- were each nominated for a Grammy Award.​In addition to hundreds of rock clubs in the United States and abroad, Mr. Dowd has played some of the most prestigious music venues in the world, including multiple appearances at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, The Borderline in London, the Rose Bowl and the Getty Center in Los Angeles, The Paradiso in Amsterdam, The Bottom Line, the Fillmore East, CBGB's and Symphony Space in New York City, the Kennedy Center in D.C., Symphony Hall and The Rathskellar in Boston, and Ravinia, Lollapalooza, Millennium Park, Steppenwolf Theater and Second City in Chicago.  TV appearances include the Today Show, The Jenny Jones Show, Sound Opinions, and numerous appearances on local Chicago television. Gerald has also performed and/or recorded with:  Chris Mills, Frisbie, Nora O’Connor, Kelly Hogan, Edith Frost, Lush Budgett, Dave Ramont, Dick Smith, Lloyd Green, Dennis Crouch, Peter Himmelman, Swing Gitan, 500Clown Theater Company, Neko Case, Andrew Bird, EXO, Steve Albini,  Mavis Staples, George Jones, Buck Owens, Tina Fey, Marshall Crenshaw, Rhymefest, Rich Little, Otis Clay, Catie Curtis, Pinetop Seven, Richie Cole, and Arturo Sandoval, among many others.   ​Gerald has been described as “the hardest working drummer in Chicago” (Richard Milne, WXRT), and is one of the city’s most in-demand drummers, having played on over 60 albums, and averaging 200 live dates a year. In 2014, he was the recipient of an IAP arts grant from Chicago's Dept. Of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE), which led to his first full length solo album, Home Now, in 2014. His first release, Kingsize EP, was released in 2012.