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Spencer Thomas Band



Last Updated: 11/21/2009

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Status: Single
City: South Austin
State: Texas
Country: US
Signup Date: 7/24/2006

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Thursday, November 19, 2009 

Current mood:  grateful
I hit the Austin scene in 1986, singing for The Solid Senders.  We were a hardcore Texas Blues band that lasted about 10 years, recording two CD's for Tramp records in Holland.  (Try to find those gems)  We toured a little in Norway and The Netherlands, but mostly rocked Austin, Texas with Hector Watt on Guitar, Keith Ferguson on Bass, and Matt Ryan on drums.
 Then I recorded a cool indie R&B CD with The Big Pow Wow.  George Rarey, Nick, Jim, Matt, and Jamie Hilboldt.
  I sang with Pat Boyack on his 3rd release for Bullseye Blues (Rounder) in '97We played House of Blues (Boston & Orlando) , BB King's (Memphis & LA), Buddy Guy's Legends, Memphis in May Festival, Slippery Noodle in Indianapolis, Blues Cafe in Long Beach, Mother's in San Luis Obispo, Grand Emporium, The Rhythm Room in Tuscon, and lots more fun and exciting night spots. 
 Back in Austin, I sang with Larry Lange and the guys in a band called King Soul. and a quasi-gospel group called The Rev. Ben T. and The Well Kept Secrets, and gradually put my own band together playing gigs around south central Texas - from Corpus Christi to San Angelo.
  In 2007, I released my first solo album, highlighting my songwriting and featuring the cream of the crop of Austin R&B players.  Read my blog "Voodoo Dream" for more info.  Buy "Voodoo Dream" on CD or downloads at WWW.CDBABY.COM
  Then I got involved with the Austin Blues Society and stumbled into being made the president.  With the hard work of some great volunteer directors and officers, we established the Heart O' Texas Blues Challenge, and became the first Austin group to send a blues band and solo act to the Blues Foundation's "International Blues Challenge" 
In 2009, after resigning from my ABS position, I participated in, and won the 2009 H.O.T. Blues Challenge - and so will represent the ABS with my band in the 2010 IBC.       

    

Currently listening:
Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs
By Derek and the Dominos
Release date: 1996-08-20
Thursday, August 06, 2009 


http://texasmusicmatters.kut.org/2009/08/03/spence...

Spencer Thomas Lays Down the Blues Tonight at Antone’s

Shared via AddThis

My music was featured on KUT's Austin Music Minute recently. The funny thing is, the song came from an unreleased album. I have to assume I got lucky and placed an advance promo copy in the right hand when I passed some out at a Blues Society event recently. Thanks to KUT's Texas Music Matters, and to Laurie Gallardo, the AMM host.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009 

Current mood:  inspired
Category: Music
Smiley Lewis and Otis Redding walk into this Ft. Worth juke joint just as a knife fight breaks out between Ray Charles and Johnny "Guitar" Watson.  Now John Lee Hooker goes upside Big Joe Turner's head to cause a diversion, and tells The Neville Brothers to save the whiskey.   Dr. John makes the scene, and blows a little fix powder in the air 'bout the same time Sherriff Chuck Berry busts in the front door.  Meanwhile, Bobby 'Blue' Bland's having a coughin' fit from laughin' so hard at Big Maybelle, pinned to the alcove wall  by Fats Domino.   She's s'posed to be babysittin' Carlos Santana and Jimmie Vaughan, but they're watchin' the whole thang, crouched down behind the bar.  I wasn't there, but I heard Johnny Winter and Howlin Wolf talkin' about it on the radio, and  by the time I got there to clean up the mess, Eric Clapton is runnin' off with the cash box.  Sheeit!
Currently listening:
The Definitive Collection
By Howlin' Wolf
Release date: 2007-04-17
Saturday, July 11, 2009 

Category: Music
............

V-8 Records Releases LIVE FROM THE SAXON PUB by The Spencer Thomas Band....

 ....

The Spencer Thomas Band announces the upcoming release of V-8 Records’ debut CD, an album of 8 songs recorded live at The Saxon Pub on April 23, 2009.  The 8 songs were edited from a blistering hour and a half set at the iconic South Austin venue, and they capture Thomas delivering his trademark old-school Austin R&B mix with the help of some truly legendary musicians.  ....

While Spencer’s vocal talent is front and center, the live setting also highlights the virtuosic talents of drummer Rodney Craig (The Cobras, Angela Strehli) and bassist Brad Fordham (Jerry Jeff Walker, Wanda Jackson) as they lay down an amazing foundation for the wailing tenor sax of Jim Trimmier (The Vanguards, Nick Curran), and the outstanding guitar work of Michael Holt, (who also fronts his own band The Trophy 500's) ....

 Live From The Saxon Pub includes three of Spencer’s originals that first saw light on his 2007 release, Voodoo Dream, and five classic r&b numbers that have been mainstays of the band’s live performance for years.   Ray Charles, Little Milton, Freddie King, Lightnin’ Slim, and the obscure Charles Sims provide the rest of the material for this rockin’ set.....

The CD will be the first release on the V-8 label.  The upstart company, headed by Michael Holt, is a cooperative of artists whose music expresses a uniquely Texas Soul.  The label aims to capitalize on the new “do-it-yourself” trends of today’s music distribution environment. ....

 ....

Live From The Saxon Pub, The Spencer Thomas Band (V-8 Records)....

Recorded Live at The Saxon Pub, Austin, Texas on April 23, 2009 ....

Engineered by Richard Vannoy, Produced by Michael Holt ....

Mastered by Jerry Tubb at Terra Nova Digital Audio, Inc. Austin, TX....

 ....

Performed by: Spencer Thomas – Vocals, Michael Holt – Guitar, Jim Trimmier – Saxophone, Rodney Craig – Drums, Brad Fordham – Bass ....

 ....

TRACK INFO         Total Time 37:37....

1.        Missin’Persons          4:31                                                                ....

S. Thomas, Julietoons Pub., BMI....

2.        Take A Bath                                3:29                                                                ....

C. Sims, EMI Unart Catalog, Inc.  ....

3.        Voodoo Dream    5:24                                                                ....

S. Thomas, Julietoons Pub., BMI....

4.        Blackjack                6:43                                                                                ....

Ray Charles, Unichappell Music, Inc., BMI                                        ....

5.        You Know That You Love Me 5:13                                ....

Freddie King, S. Thompson, Fort Knox Music Inc./Trio Music Co. BMI....

6.        Don’t Give Her Tequila                4:21                                                ....

S. Thomas, Julietoons Pub., BMI....

7.        Rooster Blues     3:28                                                                 ....

Jerry West, Embassy Music Corp., BMI....

8.        That’s What Love Will Make You Do           4:27                ....

“Little” Milton Campbell, Trice Pub. Col, BMI....

Monday, March 03, 2008 

Category: Music
From The Austin Chronicle July 6, 2007:
Music Section - "Texas Platters - Bonus Tracks"
By Margaret Moser

As the Solid Senders' smoky-voiced vocalist, Spencer Thomas made the girls swoon and the guys wanna play in his band. The 11 originals on Voodoo Dream prove he's lost none of that style, stitching bluesy Texas shuffles with enough swampy Louisiana soul and Chicago punch to ensure this CD will be one of the underrated releases of Austin's 2007. 
Currently listening:
Dreams To Remember: The Legacy of Otis Redding
Release date: 18 September, 2007
Monday, March 03, 2008 

Current mood:  grateful
Category: Music
Here is the review of Voodoo Dream that appeared in Hill Country Happenings, February 2008 issue.  You can find a link to the entire issue at www.hchappenings.com  Again, my thanks go out to The Big 'G', Gordon Ames.

"In the next few lines, I'm going to ask you to wrap your head around a rather cool concept.  Imagine Carlos Santana, Dr. John, The Boogie Kings, The Cobras, Fats Domino, Johnny Nicholas' Texas All Stars, The Baja Marimba Band, Otis Redding and Bobby Blue Bland hangin' out with Jimmie and Eric at Mardi Gras, or Carnival.  Got the picture?  Hear the sound, THAT sound?  Then you have just about figured out what Spencer Thomas' music is all about. 

Thomas' new release, Voodoo Dream, encompasses all the elements above, plus more.

11 numbers, all written, and sung, by Thomas send the listener on a geographical roadtrip through the marsh and swamp of south Louisiana, to Chicago's south side, then back to Austin for this fine bowl of gumbo.  Blues, R&B and Roots Rock are the main ingredients of this fine dish, with a bit of soul and groove thrown in for some extra spice.  

Boogie Woogie Mambo is just what its title infers.  Solid rhythm from Rodney Craig on drums and Sarah Brown on bass allow the percussion (Tonico Vanalli) and horns (Jim Trimmier) to highlight the mix.   Missin' Persons allows guitarist John Inmon to stretch it out on the intro and this song embodies the spirit of the Chicago blues scene.  George Rarey's cool guitar work defines the bluesy, up tempo Don't Give Her Tequila.  Nick Connolly's fine keyboards come into play, the perfect fit.  Trouble is some pretty danged good stuff, straight-forward.  Anaconda with its nice Latin feel, works well in the mix. 

The title track has a funk groove you've gotta hear Vanalli's percussion, Trimmier's horn work and Inmon's guitar work are a great compliment to Thomas' determined vocals here.  Whoop Te Nah Ne is a lighthearted little number, followed by the classic message delivered in She Took Me To The CleanersTears In The Wishin' Well  takes this writer back to the Gulf Coast sound of my youth.  Ever heard G.G.Shinn, or Rod Bernard?  Finally, the solid back beat allows Thomas to wail, as well as Rarey and Inmon on the guitars, on I Love My Guitar.

Tight experienced players, classic rhythms, excellent songwriting and the ability to mix it up and serve a tasty meal is the signature of Voodoo Dream.  Spencer Thomas is a player.  His vocal style and range, on top of the solid musical backdrop, make this one to have.  Check him out at www.myspace.com/spencer0thomas, and get a copy for yourself.
Currently listening:
People Gonna Talk
By James Hunter
Release date: 07 March, 2006
Wednesday, February 13, 2008 

Current mood:  grateful
Category: Music

I'm feeling like I want to share the love a little bit for a couple of friends whose appreciation of my music has helped justify all the hard work and many years spent in its creation.  I know people say you shouldn't care what people think, but I do.   And even though I'm my own worst critic (at least I hope I am), I'm compelled to keep creating, and it's nice to be validated when this big old world so often seems cold and indifferent. 

So I send out a very public "Thank You" to my new friend, Gordon Ames, an extremely independent DJ and journalist in Kerrville, TX (my birthplace, btw). Big 'G' happened to hear one of my songs on KPFT-FM 90.1 while passing through Houston, tracked me down, and we struck up a friendship based on our mutual love of good ol', down home music, especially the gulf coast swampy shit.  He started playing my music on his show, "Big 'G's Texas Roadshow", which is really cool.  Then he blew my mind by printing a glowing review of Voodoo Dream AND a two page interview, pretty much telling my life story, in the February 2008 issue of Hill Country Happenings.  That much ink being such a precious commodity, I'm overwhelmed by the gesture.  Thanks 'G'.

Which brings me to my very public, and much belated, "Thank You" to Margaret Moser, my champion.  Margaret is the only bona fide Austin journalist who has ever put my name in print, and for my money Margaret is "The Maven of Austin Music" (look that up in your wikipedia).  Writing about music when most of the Chronicle reviewers were crying about finger paints, Margaret is clearly the only critic with the perspective to truly appreciate the many roots artists that are still active and vital to Austin's music scene.  From recommending my live show in a weekly feature 10 years ago to including "Voodoo Dream" among her Texas Top Ten for 2007, Margaret's support has always caught me completely off guard, and it keeps me from deleting all my lyric files when my stinky little demons tell me I ought to just hang it up.  Thanks Margaret - you're in my own personal hall of fame for eternally cool people.

Currently listening:
The Sound of the Swamp: The Best of Excello Records, Vol. 1
By Various Artists