Highlights
from the life of Dr. Tom


September 1976
Butt Appointed To National Committee
Dr. Thomas E. Butt of Wytheville, was recently appointed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to the National Soil and Water Conservation Committee. Dr. Butt is a practicing dentist in Wytheville, and he is originally from Pocahontas.



June 15, 1978
Dentist Finds Creative Outlet in Music
WYTHEVILLE - It's almost as if there was something in the air of Wythe County that brings out country music inclinations. The McPeak Brothers, for example, have been recording professionally for several years. Roy Bledsoe sings under the name "Roy Bee." And Walter "Coal Dust" Moore, always ready to perform in local variety shows or radio stations, professes the ambition of replacing Junior Samples one day on "Hee Haw." A 23-year-old Fort Criswell man, Jim Mabe, credits Roanoke disc jockey "Cousin Zeke" Leonard with persuading him to cut a record in Nashville and it hit the top 15 two weeks after its release on Pulaski Radio Station WBLB.

The latest to make a musical name for himself is Dr. Tom Butt, Wytheville's singing dentist. Butt doesn't sing to his patients while he's working on their teeth. But he has recorded a few songs, and they are being well received at radio stations in towns like Wytheville, Marion and Pulaski. A disc jockey at a Princeton, W. VA, station said Butt's record was the top country artist played there one week.

Butt says the music, like hunting and trail riding, is a hobby with him. "It's my golf," he said. "I'm sure I'd do it even if there wasn't anybody there listening but myself."



July 1979
Prominent Wytheville Dentist Is Appointed
Dr. Thomas E. Butt, a prominent Wytheville dentist who grew up in Pocahontas and graduated from the high school there, was recently appointed by Governor John Dalton to the board of visitors of Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond.

A son of Mrs. Herbert H. Butt, of Pocahontas, Dr. Butt graduated at the Medical College of Virginia Medical School after getting a BA at Roanoke College. His late father owned and ran a hardware store in Pocahontas for many years.

Dr. Butt is considered the father of topical dental fluorides and was instrumental in setting up the dental program at Wytheville Community College, where he has taught since its inception. He is also on the staffs of two area hospitals.



March 18, 1982
Dr. Butt On PM Magazine
Dr. Tom Butt, of Wytheville, will be featured on the WDBJ TV program called PM Magazine. Butt said that he was taped by PM Magazine on Friday, march 12 and went to J-93 Country Music Radio Station in Roanoke to do a tape and live show.

Butt is a local dentist who has written a number of songs. Three of his newly written songs will be featured at the Lions Club Variety Show this Friday and Saturday at 8:00 p.m. in the George Wythe High School Auditorium.

One new number at the Variety Show will be a country style song called Honky Tonk Heart. Butt will also sing a new gospel number titled Shout It Out and the other newly presented song will be a ballad entitled Shadows.



May 11, 1982
Dr. Butt Cited By College
Salem - Dr. Thomas E. Butt, a Wytheville dentist and country-western performer, has been awarded a Roanoke College Medal for outstanding professional achievements and public service. Dr. Butt is a 1957 graduate of Roanoke college.



May 14, 1983
The People Column
Tom Butt, Wytheville's musical dentist, has released his 16th recording, which contains his first gospel song. Dr. Butt has composed more than 100 songs, including the gospel "Shout His name" and the record's flip side, "Shadows," a country song. The record has been mailed to some 500 radio stations in Virginia and other states.

"I've been pleased with the response from those stations," Butt said. A Pocahontas native, Butt is a graduate of Roanoke College and the Medical College of Virginia. He formerly performed as Tom Butt. He has sung and played his trumpet at the National Arthritis Telethon in Nashville, Tenn., and Preservation Hall in New Orleans. He was the opening act for the Statler Brothers' "Happy Birthday" concert last July 4.



September 11, 1983
Pocahontas-Born Dentist And Musician Has 17th Recording
Tom Butt of Wytheville is doing it again! No, he's not pulling teeth, although he is a practicing dentist! No, he is not playing his trumpet, although he has won national recognition for his expertise as a trumpet player! This week, multi-talented Butt (he uses Butt for his performances) is releasing a new recording. It is number 17 for Butt, who not only sings, but writes words and music, and has set up his own label.

"This appears to be the finest honky-tonk song presently available," claimed Butt enthusiastically. Then he went on to explain that Honky-tonk Angel became a hit in the 1950s and the late Marty Robins Honky-tonk recording this year became a hit for him!



1984
Billboard Magazine
Dr. Tom Butt, the singing Dentist from Wytheville, has received information from a national publication that Billboard has surveyed a large number of country-western stations and that Dr. Tom has rated sixth nationwide on the charts of independent record companies. The song that found its way to the sixth slot is "Honky-Tonk Heart" on Superstar label, released in late 1983. The song was written by Mary Ann Sheets of Hiwassee and Dr. Tom Butt. The disc-jockeys who report back to Cash Box and Billboard and other trade magazines in the music world are seriously looking at Tom's music and see great potential.



December 18, 1984
Butt's Goal Is Grand Old Opry Invitation
Dr. Tom Butt has a dream. Not your ordinary dream, granted, and one that poses more intricate difficulties than the Wythe dentist would ever face in his dental office.

"Dr. Tom" wants to be the first trumpet playing, singing dentist on the Grand Old Opry. Nobody ever said it would be easy, and that's part of the lure. "Everybody's got to have a challenge that's unique to them, Butt said in a recent interview, "and I wouldn't like it if it was easy." "If I fail, it's because I don't have it, or I'm not trying hard enough, or I'm not persistent enough." Not trying hard enough, shouldn't figure prominently if he doesn't have some success.



January 6, 1985
Dr. Tom Finds Recording Fun, Hard Work
WYTHEVILLE - There's more to putting a song on record than just writing it and singing it into a recording studio microphone. Ask Dr. Thomas E. butt, unofficially known as Wytheville's "Singing Dentist" because of his musical hobby.

Butt has written and recorded a number of songs, the latest being "All Alone," under the name of Dr. Tom. A professional record promoter is working on trying to place it high on the charts early in February, sending it to some 450 radio stations.



May 1986

Expert Advice
Dr. Thomas Butt, A Wytheville Dentist, and Patricia BeCraft, basic skills supervisor for Wythe County Schools, were only two of the local professionals who visited Lucille Grubb's fifth grade class at Scott Memorial. The project allowed students to sharpen their interviewing skills as well as learn valuable information about various careers. Terry Troy interviews Butt and Rosanne Myers interviews BeCraft.



June 12, 1986
Come See Dr. Tom and Friends
There is no lack of talent in Wythe County! Once again, Chautauqua Festival is pleased to present Dr. Tom Butt and his group, "Dr. Tom Butt and the Super Star Band," including Kenneth "Juicy" King on lead guitar, Peggy Shockley, bass guitar; Susan Smith, vocals; Don Biehl, drums; and Tom on trumpet and vocals.

Tom is a native of Pocahontas. He earned degrees at both Roanoke College and the Medical College of Virginia/Dental School. In addition to private practice, the demands of some 1,500 acres of prime farming and grazing land press heavily on his time. Nevertheless, Tom is one who always accepts his share of civic, professional and community responsibility. In spite of these accomplishments and for having all those balls in the air at the same time, Tom always finds time for his first love country music.



August 11, 1986
Singing Dentist Tom Butt Seeks New Music Challenges
Butt says there is no big deal about recording one song and getting it to sound pretty good. He speaks from experience. Butt, a Wytheville dentist, has been writing songs for about eight years now and making trips to recording studios in Nashville, Tenn., to have them converted into single records.

Some have gotten onto the charts in places like Billboard magazine. They have earned Butt some nicknames from people in the country music field Dr. Tom, or the singing Dentist. Now the Singing Dentist is branching out. He recently came back from Nashville not with a single, but a cassette with 10 songs on it. He said he considers that more of a challenge.



June 1987
Dentists Give Thanks With Free dental work
WYTHEVILLE - Two Wytheville dentists performed more than $1,100 worth of dentistry for free last week on 19 area residents.

Dr. Thomas E. Butt said the free emergency treatment for needy residents Thursday was a way of saying thanks to the community for its years of support of his dental business, and to help introduce his associate, Dr. Jill Capps, to the locality.