A medium, side-profile portrait of musician Shuga T inside a recording studio. They have dark, wavy hair and are wearing a light blue sweatshirt over blue denim overalls. They are sitting at a vintage-style electric piano, looking down with intense focus at the keys as they play. A black microphone boom arm extends into the frame from the top right, positioned near the instrument. The background consists of simple, deep red curtains, providing a soft and moody contrast to the artist.
Shuga T in Boulder, Colorado c. May 2023 Credit: shuga.t.music / Instagram

At home behind the Hammond, Tommy “Shuga T” Shugart cut his teeth in Winter Park where he studied jazz guitar and played cello in the Rollins College orchestra.

After sharing the stage with the likes of Joe Marcinek, Mike Mitchell (AKA Blaque Dynamite), and Roosevelt Collier—and releasing his solo debut in 2022—Shugart is back with Matriarch, another new album of smooth organ tunes set for release on June 5.

The record finds Shugart leaving the bedroom studio and teaming up with Anthony “AC” Cole (drummer for JJ Grey & Mofro), trombonist and Ghost-Note collaborator Daniel Wytanis and others to put songs down on a four-track tape recorder.

There’s no cover to see Tommy “Shuga T” Shugart at Dunedin Brewery in Dunedin on Friday, May 29.

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This article appears in May 21 – 27, 2026.

Read his 2016 intro letter and disclosures from 2022 and 2021. Ray Roa started freelancing for Creative Loafing Tampa in January 2011 and was hired as music editor in August 2016. He became Editor-In-Chief...