Tom’s Elton Tribute: Someone Saved His Life Tonight

There are likely more Elton John tribute acts than Top 10 hits produced by Sir Elton himself over his more than 50-year-career. Page 1 of a Google search yields such bands as Simply Elton, Almost Elton John and Ultimate Elton, as well as Rocket Max, The Rocket Man Show, Crocodile Mock and Elton Jeff & The Honky Cats. But it’s unlikely those singer-pianists credit John’s music with saving their lives the way Tom Cridland does. 

Cridland, who calls his act Tom’s Elton Tribute – something akin to an untitled movie script – found himself so drawn to John’s music and learning how to play it that he used the effort as catalyst for a commitment to sobriety after serious time as an alcoholic. Cridland was a fashion designer with a self-named brand who developed the pointedly sustainable 30 Year Collection as an antidote to fast fashion, which connected him to movie and rock stars. He later got involved with his own original music, and a few years ago started a podcast called the Greatest Music of All Time. But it was during the pandemic that he latched onto an idea to learn how to play piano and study John’s songs that has led to his current gig. 

“I didn’t go to rehab or do anything else but throw myself into music,” Cridland explained.“Learning piano so I could perform Elton’s music was like a carrot and stick situation to stay sober. It’s straight from the heart in that sense that I’m a genuine longtime fan – especially of the way he does things live, which I’ve studied through going to so many of his shows. It feels very natural.”

At first, when live shows resumed, Cridland said he simply focused on playing the music, performing in saloons and beer fests without dressing up like the rock star. 

“I was looking down at my hands all the time, and I didn’t wear flamboyant outfits or sunglasses,” he said. “I didn’t have any showmanship at all.”

But within a matter of months, things clicked, and now Cridland has embraced John’s performing persona in full, leading to gigs in larger places, including playing to over 1,500 people at McKelligon Canyon Amphitheatre in Texas. 

Cridland and Tom’s Elton Tribute will make their Santa Barbara debut in a concert at the Granada on August 18 that was originally scheduled for March. In the interim, he got to perform at the Troubadour in West Hollywood, the same venue where Elton John debuted in the United States in 1970. 

“That was absolutely a bucket list moment,” he said. “I was really nervous at first.” 

The Granada show will feature both a bevy of hits – “Bennie and the Jets,” “Tiny Dancer,” “Rocket Man,” “Candle in the Wind,” “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me,” “I’m Still Standing,” “Crocodile Rock,” and “Your Song,” to name a few – plus deeper cuts like “Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding” and “Burn Down the Mission” from Tumbleweed Connection. 

While he’s having a great time, Cridland doesn’t know if the tribute show will continue to take over his life’s work. 

“I’m still doing the podcast, the clothing line, and I have just finished producing the new record by the Stylistics featuring Elton John’s drummer Nigel Olsson, a friend for years from fashion, and guitarist Davey Johnstone,” he said. “I’m trying to evolve the best I can all the time. It’s day-to-day. But what keeps me sane the most is playing this music live, as strange as it sounds, traveling and playing these shows.”