![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.anthologysd.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/sound-observations.jpg\" "\\"sound-observations\\"")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Earl Thomas is known for singing the blues, but for the first time in his two-decade career, he\u2019s enjoying a rainbow of flavors.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve had several bands, but this one is MY band,\u201d he said. \u201cI have a band based on experience, not need.\u201d<\/p>\n Thomas performs with this new band, the Blues Ambassadors, on October 14 as part of Anthology\u2019s Late Night Brews \u2018N\u2019 Blues Festival, and while he\u2019s used the band name in the past, only now has the true meaning been personified.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a truly multi-cultural band,\u201d Thomas said. \u201cWe have whites, Indians, Asians, Italians, blacks, creoles. We\u2019ve covered the whole world \u2013 at least the whole U.S.\u201d<\/p>\n This is important to Thomas, who first came to international attention while living in San Diego 20 years ago.<\/p>\n \u201cI grew up in a multi-cultural environment. My dad was in the Army. I\u2019m not comfortable around just black people. I like to have a real rainbow coalition,\u201d he said with a laugh.<\/p>\n The way that Thomas ran into his band is something of a blues fairy tale that started out like a tragedy.<\/p>\n \u201cI had an old songwriting partner who, back in the early \u201890s needed my help, but I denied it,\u201d Thomas confessed. \u201cFor 15 years, I\u2019ve felt guilt. I could barely sleep some nights.<\/p>\n \u201cI tried to contact him, but he wouldn\u2019t take my calls. Finally, I called him at his home in San Jose and begged him, \u2018Just give me 10 minutes.\u2019 Then I drove from Sacramento to his house.\u201d<\/p>\n As soon as Thomas he showed up and, in a move more representative of gospel than the blues, immediately burst into tears and begged for forgiveness.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, he forgave me,\u201d Thomas said. \u201cAnd when I was driving back, I drove past a club called the Poor House and heard some blues. I felt good \u2013 like I had the weight of 15 years lifted off me \u2013 and decided to check out the band.\u201d<\/p>\n What Thomas blew him away.<\/p>\n \u201cThe first thing I see is a big fat Indian guy on bass,\u201d he said. \u201cI knew the guitar player and I got on stage and sang with them and we just clicked! I hadn\u2019t felt that good since I played in the late 1980s with the Rhumboogies.\u201d<\/p>\n The difference, he says, comes down to friendship.<\/p>\n \u201cThese are cool, balanced good people who love playing good old-fashioned American blues,\u201d he said, adding that the racial mix is key to the sound.<\/p>\n \u201cThe way I see it is, 50 percent of the blues is African and 50 percent is the melting pot of America,\u201d he said. \u201cEngland had slaves, but it didn\u2019t have the blues because you need the blacks, but also the mix of the other cultures.\u201d<\/p>\n Thomas is so high on the Blues Ambassadors that he even brought them to his home town of Pikeville, Tennessee, to meet his family.<\/p>\n However, he is quick to add that, like always, he is still working with other musicians, such as the Kings of Rhythm, the former backing band of Ike Turner.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re working on an album of the Ike and Tina songbook that will be released in England,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n But right now, his focus is on the Blues Ambassadors and the October 14 show, which will be filmed for \u201cMeet The Blues Ambassadors,\u201d a concert DVD that is a companion to his newest CD, which has the same title.<\/p>\n \u201cThe concert won\u2019t be completely the same as the album,\u201d he said. \u201cThe CD has 13 songs, but we\u2019re doing nine of them as well as covers, such as \u2018Hot Legs\u2019 by Rod Stewart, which we\u2019re doing as down home blues, and we\u2019re doing \u2018Jet Airliner\u2019 by Steve Miller.\u201d<\/p>\n Thomas is looking forward to the show and, thanks to his new band, the future as well.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve gotten good playing with strangers, but as far as finding my tribe, my team, I finally have that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n —<\/p>\n WHAT: Earl Thomas<\/strong> By David Moye Earl Thomas is known for singing the blues, but for the first time in his two-decade career, he\u2019s enjoying a rainbow of flavors. \u201cI\u2019ve had several bands, but this one is MY band,\u201d he said. \u201cI have a band based on experience, not need.\u201d Thomas performs with this new band, the Blues […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":2880,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[893,35,863],"tags":[170,693,406,253],"class_list":["post-2879","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interviews","category-special-events","category-upcoming-shows","tag-blues","tag-david-moye","tag-earl-thomas","tag-live-blues"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/anthologysd.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2879","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/anthologysd.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/anthologysd.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anthologysd.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anthologysd.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2879"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/anthologysd.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2879\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2881,"href":"https:\/\/anthologysd.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2879\/revisions\/2881"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anthologysd.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2880"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/anthologysd.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2879"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anthologysd.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2879"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anthologysd.com\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2879"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.anthologysd.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/earl-thomas.jpg\" "\\"earl-thomas\\"")
By David Moye<\/strong><\/cite><\/p>\n
\nWHEN: Thursday, October 14th, 2010<\/strong>
\nTICKETS: $7 – $23 BUY TICKETS<\/a><\/strong>
\nMORE INFO: Artist Profile<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"