Allan Thomas is a longtime singer- songwriter, recording artist and longtime resident of Kaua‘i. Thomas was born in Manhattan, grew up in Brooklyn, and by age 12 sang in doo-wop groups on the southern coast of Long Island. At 17,
Allan Thomas is a longtime singer- songwriter, recording artist and longtime resident of Kaua‘i. Thomas was born in Manhattan, grew up in Brooklyn, and by age 12 sang in doo-wop groups on the southern coast of Long Island. At 17, he became a solo singer and landed his first record contract. Two years later, he began writing songs and in 1970 his first LP, “A Picture” was released. From 1974 to 1983, he was a songwriter in Southern California, including one year as staff song writer for ABC Music in Los Angeles. He then discovered Hawai‘i and moved to Kaua‘i, where he still lives and works recording his own music and teaching children and adults to play guitar. In 2009, he released a retrospective CD very aptly named “Brooklyn Boy in Paradise” and in 2011, another new studio album.
The disc is making international waves as it get airplay from Holland to Germany, Scotland, the mainland and of course Kaua‘i. It is gaining critical acclaim as well from critics as far away as Germany and Sweden.
Recorded with 21 stellar musicians, you’ll find songs ranging in genre from “The Longest Ride” – a rock-jazz tribute to surfer Andy Irons featuring David Crosby and Graham Nash — to “The Downturn” — a tongue-in-cheek take on the current state of economic mayhem. The record also features several character-driven compositions, among them “Other Than That” — a vocal and drums-only litany on the worst aspects of some people we all know, set to a late 1950’s beat-poet jazz groove, and the wizened and weary weed smuggler confessional of the searing rock-blues “Monkey Business.” With a reflective look into just how deep love can take you on the “Deep Water” title track, plus the flat-out jubilant and jazzy “The Gift” and a ballad that endeavors to sum it all up in “It All Comes Down To Love,” Deep Water is mixed by Mike Shipley, the 2012 Grammy award winner for Best Engineered Album Non-Classical for Alison Krauss and Union Station’s Paper Airplane. The record features members of the Bonnie Raitt, Neil Young, James Taylor, Van Morrison, CSN and Yellowjackets bands, plus an all-star cast of local backing musicians, including Michael Ruff, Bryan Kessler, Ken Emerson, Kirk Smart and Kaua‘i songbird Anjela Rose. Thomas wants to encourage all young musicians out there to follow their passion, believe in themselves and their gift; and to realize that this is the best time in history for musicians to spread their music using the net. He feels that as a 50-year overnight success in the making, that the most important part of being a musician is the great people you meet and the sheer enjoyment of having your sound heard. He feels that he really came into his own groove after moving to Kaua‘i and being surrounded by the great talent here and as well as the energy of the island.
“Deep Water” is available at www.allanthomas.com; cdbaby.com is offering digital downloads along with the CD.
