How
It All Started
In May of 2014
my archives were celebrated at McMaster University. The musical portion of the
program opened with a wonderful arrangement of Little Dreams for strings and saxophone
that brought me to tears. This was in no small part due to the skills of music
director/arranger Darcy Hepner.
I have a soft spot for orchestra as you
might know with songs like Pilot and Long Long Way and many album tracks over
the years. I have also written for orchestra in my alternate career as a film
composer in over twenty feature films.
Over a good glass of red Italian wine,
Darcy Hepner and I conceived the idea of a full-blown orchestral recording
project and live performances with orchestra to follow. This will include some
charts from the original recordings by my dear friend the late Milan Kymlicka and new arrangements by
yours truly, Darcy Hepner and good friend
film composer, Paul Intson. For fans
out there we will of course be covering all of my early hits including Painted Ladies, Long Long Way, Right Before
Your Eyes, Pilot, Hold On, The Runner and a veritable cross section of my life in song from the
last 40 years. We’re pretty excited about this and have already completed some
of the orchestrations. The project has already caught the interest of the
Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra and I am excited to announce the debut concert of
this new CD has been booked for Oct. 17/2015 in the great hall at Hamilton
Place with the Philharmonic.
So
Why Do I Need Your Help – Why Private Funding?
The days of big budget
recordings are over. We need a big soundstage and an old fashioned thing called
- musicians. Sixty real living musicians are needed for this recording and
no Canadian record company can afford an album like this - certainly not for
someone my age. With retail outlets all but gone, recouping costs through sales
is difficult to say the least. I know this project excites me musically and my
hope is that many of you will love it as well. This will be nothing short of a
world-class recording and if you think this something you’d like to listen to,
you can play a large part in the process.
How You Can Contribute
Please see the Perks section on the right side of this page for the various bundles available. We think the perks we're offering will catch your imagination! Like this really cool guitar, custom-made for Ian by renowned luthier, Seppo Valjakka:
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After you select your perk, your contribution will be immediately withdrawn from your credit card or PayPal account.
You can contribute as many times as you like and choose as many perks as you like. If you’d like to contribute on behalf of a friend, or several friends, this option is also now available. Read more about it here.
Where Do The Funds Go?
As you can see from the chart below, the lion's share of the funds we are raising for this project go to the musicians themselves, studio and mixing expenses. Because we're using classically-trained musicians and not computer-generated orchestral sounds, the costs to produce this album are higher, but you'll certainly hear the difference.
Let’s make an amazing album together!
The Music of Ian Thomas
Those of us fortunate enough to grow up in
Canada during the 70s and 80s experienced the “coming of age” of Canadian pop
music and the emergence of many great artists whose music has stood the test of
time to this day, both here and abroad.
Ian Thomas is one such artist. He graced us
with many memorable songs from the ten great albums he released between 1972
and 1988 and his fan base grew steadily with regular radio airplay and countless
live performances throughout the period. Inevitably, his music gained more attention
in the US market when headline artists like America, Manfred Mann, Santana and
Chicago had successful hits with some his best-known songs, like “Right
Before Your Eyes”, “The Runner”, “Hold On” and “Chains”.
With the advent of the 90s, Ian extended his
reach into Europe as part of the renowned band, The Boomers and
astrong following ensued, especially in Germany, where the
band performed two live tours to sold-out houses. Radio reinforced the band’s
popularity with frequent airplay of Boomers standards like “Love You Too Much”, “Wishes”
,“You’ve
Got to Know” and “ I Feel a Change Coming” and history
repeated itself when notable artists like Anne Murray and Bette Midler covered
the two Boomers tunes: “Good Again” and “To
Comfort
You”.
In recent years, Ian has toured across Canada
as part of the band, Lunch at
Allen's with good friends Murray McLauchlan, Marc Jordan and Cindy
Church. Well-renowned for their on-stage chemistry and fine vocal harmonies, they’ve
put out four fine albums together and play regularly to packed houses.
Despite a variety of other personal and
artistic pursuits, Ian has maintained a successful career in the Canadian music
business for nearly five decades now. He continues to write new material and in
2012, released a new album, “Little Dreams” which was
well-received both north and south of the border. And yes, Ian still performs solo
dates on a regular basis to appreciative audiences everywhere!
Asked recently whether he’s worried about
running out of things to write about, he replied in typical fashion, “ No, I’m
a big mouth. I think I’ll have too much to say until the day I drop!”
To learn more about Ian and his years in the
music business, check out his recent interview with Steve Paikin on TVO’s “The
Agenda":
Look Who's Been Talking About Us
http://www.thespec.com/whatson-story/5523104-a-little-help-from-his-fans/
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