Thomas Armon Pridgen (born November 23 1983 in Alameda County, California) is the current drummer for The Mars Volta from El Cerrito, California. He won the Guitar Center Drum-Off at age 9 and at age 10 was the youngest recipient for a Zildjian endorsement in the nearly 400 year history of the company. Thomas has studied with Dave Garibaldi, Walfredo Reyes Jr,Troy Luketta, and Curtis Nutall. He is endorsed by DW Drums, Zildjian Cymbals, Remo Drumheads, LP Percussion, Rhythm Tech, and Zendrum. Thomas was also the recipient of a 4 year scholarship to Berklee College of Music in 1999 at the age of 15; he was youngest musician to ever receive this scholarship. He has played in clinics with Walfredo Reyes, Jr. and Dennis Chambers. Besides his work with The Mars Volta, he has also been involved with Christian Scott and Wicked Wisdom.
