Tony Thomas banjo, blues, and folk profile picture

Tony Thomas banjo, blues, and folk

Tony Thomas folk, old time, and blues performer

About Me

Born NYC, raised Hartford Ct, lived, DC, NYC, SF, Oakland, Atlanta, and Seattle. In the last 25 years he has lived in Homestead, Opa Locka, North Miami Beach , and Sunny Isle Beach Florida. Go to to see some shots of Stately Thomas Manorz..... ............................................................ ................................................zOutside of music, he has been activist in the antiwar,civil rights, Black power, Socialist Workers, and disability rights movements,and a published writer of political journalism, literary criticism, literary short stories, and literary poetry. All his stories are available at The short Stories of Tony Thomas at http://members.aol.com/shortfict/storyheader.htm. Several poems are available at Poems of Tony Thomas at http://members.aol.com/shortfict/tonyspoetry.html z..... ............................................................ ................................................z He is a proud member of Transit Workers Union Local 291 at Metrobus in Miami, and is proud to be a supporter of Pathfinder see pathfindepress.com z..... ............................................................ ................................................zTony Thomas began singing traditional folk music, blues, and singer songwriter tunes in folk clubs in Hartford CT in the mid 1960s. Returning to the live music scene in 1999, he has played at Folk and blues venues in the Miami and Fort Lauderdale area, at the Fort Lauderdale Blues Festival, the Florida Fiddlers Convention, among other venues. He has picked and recorded with the Ebony Hillbillies of New York Cityz..... ............................................................ ................................................zThomas organized the celebrated on-line music group Black Banjo Then and Now and organized the 2005 Black Banjo Then and Now Gathering at Appalachian State College in Boone, North Carolina. He has participated in the national and international discourse on African Americans and old time music, African Americans and the banjo, and the African roots of African american and American fiddling. His ideas on this have appeared in banjo-l, fiddle-l, at the Banjo Collectors Gatherings, and in the Old Time Herald. z..... ............................................................ ................................................z He is currently the chief slave and builder of the Association of Traditional Black String Players, which hopes to unite African American musicians, singers, folklorists, scholars, and enthusiasts of traditional Black string band music to educate the world about that music. Anyone interested in the Association of Traditional Black String Players, should write him at [email protected] z..... ............................................................ ................................................zTony plays the guitar, five-string banjo, and saws on the fiddle when no one else can hear. He can sing. He prefers blues, and old time music, but still does acoustic “folk” as well.z..... ............................................................ ................................................zAlthough Tony Thomas often wears a hat, HE IS NOT BALD.The following chart began on November 29,2006

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 10/14/2006
Band Website:
Band Members: Tony Thomas plays his Martin D-M acoustic guitar and his Ibanez Jazz artist electric. He plays finger and flat pick blues style, bluegrass flat picking, and old time guitar in Carter style, finger picking, flat picking and guitar frailing..;................................................. ........................................Tony Thomas plays clawhammer banjo on his 1894 Fairbanks Electric, his Gold Tone Whyte Lady, and a no name fretless banjo """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" """"""""""""""""""""""""""Some, mainly people with ears, say Tony's fiddling is not ready for prime time, Tony does not listen!
Influences: Influences Eric Ervins, Clif Ervins, Daniel Jatta, Sule Greg Wilson, Rique Prince, Dave Colvin, Norris Bennett, Gloria Thomas Gassaway, Don Vappie, Dr. Eugenia Cecilia Conway, Ulf Jagfors, Bob Winans, Allen Feldman, Joel Shimberg, Dom Flemmons, Rhiannon Giddenns, and MR. JOE THOMPSONz..... ............................................................ ................................................zDink Roberts, Josh Thomas, Uncle Homer Walker Odell Thompson, Rufus Kasey, Dock Boggs, Lucious Smith, Gus Cannon, Josh White, Ikey Robinson, Sam “ Lightning “ Hopkins, Fred MacDowell, Muddy Waters, Leroy Carr, Tampa Red, Big Maceo, Scrapper Blackwell, Leadbelly, Leadbelly, Leadbelly, John Lee Hooker, Swan Silvertones, Golden Gate Singers, Mahalia Jackson, Charles Brown, Amos Milburn, Guitar Slim, John Pete Williams, Robert Johnson, Taj Mahal, Howard Armstrong, Yank Rachel, John Estes, Ferry Lewis, Bukka White, Son Sims, Johnny Shines, ELMORE JAMES, CHESTER BURNETT AKA HOWLING WOLFE, Jimmie Cotton, Junior Wells, Big Joe Williams z..... ............................................................ ................................................zCOUNT BASIE COUNT BASIE COUNT BASIE COUNT BASIE COUNT BASIE COUNT BASIE COUNT BASIE COUNT BASIE COUNT BASIE COUNT BASIE z..... ............................................................ ................................................zLOUIS ARMSTRONG TO THE TENTH POWER LOUIE 10Ez..... ............................................................ ................................................zLIONEL HAMPTON, CHU BERRY, JIMMY RUSHING, LESTER YOUNG, BILLIE HOLIDAY, DINAH WASHINGTON, PETE JOHNSON, JAY MCSHANN, JIMMIE WITHERSPOON, BIG JOE TURNER, JIMMIE LUNCEFORD, BEN WEBSTER, JOHNNY HODGES, LAWRENCE BROWN, SY OLIVER, SLIM GAILLARD, TEDDY WILSON, DUKE ELLINGTON, CAB CALLOWAY, PETE JOHNSON, SAMMY PRICE, MEADE LUX LEWIS, CHARLIE CHRISTIAN, BUCK CLAYTON, HERSCHEL EVANS, WALTER PAGE, JOE JONES, FREDDIE GREEN, STUFF SMITH, CLAUDE WILLIAMS, EDDIE DURHAM, FATS WALLER, Mildred Bailey, Artie Shaw, Jack Teagardenz..... ............................................................ ................................................zBlind Alfred Reed, Fruit Jar Drinkers, Arthur Smith Trio,Rufus Crisp, Tommy Jarrell, Doc Watson, Roscoe Holcomb, Dock Boggs, Charlie Poole, Doc Roberts, Roy Harvey, Grandpa Jones,George R. Gibson, Eugenia Cecilia Conway Ph. D, Cece Conway, Hilary Durlam, Harry Saposnick, Paul Brown, Allen Hart, Scott O Dell, Ralph Rinzler, New Lost City Ramblers, Tom Paley, John Cohen, Mike Seeger,Bob Yellin, John Herald, Ralph Rinzler, Eric Weissberg, The Greenbriar Boys, Pete Peterson, Walt Koken, Paul Brown, Allen Hart, Alice Gerard, Chuck Berry, Kerry Blech, Kerry Blech, Kerry Blech, Woody Guthrie, Jack Eliot, Jimmie Rogers, Buddy Guy, Earl Scruggs, Bill Monroe, Lester Flatt, Alton and Raeburn Delmore, Hazel Dickens, Eddie Adcocks, Charlie Wallerz..... ............................................................ ................................................zTeddy Adams, Jesse Ashlock, Junior Bernard, Bobby Boatright, Noel Boggs, Billy Bowman, Alex Brashear, Billy Briggs, , Keith Coleman, Gene Crownover, , Tommy Duncan, Joe Ferguson, Gene Gasaway, Johnny Gimbel, Cameron Hill, Joe Holley, Sleepy Johnson, Millard Kelso, Tag Lambert, Leon McAuliffe, Tiny Moore, Tiny Mott, LEON RAUSCH, Herb Remington, Glen hees, Eldon Shamblin, Al Stickland, Louie Tierney, Mancel Tierney, , Billy Jack Wills, Johnnie Lee Wills, Luke Wills, and Jimmy Wyble. ….and JIM ROB WILLS, Joacquim Murphy, Cindy Walker, Moe Billington, Asleep at the Wheel, Milton Brown, Papa Calhoun, Derwood Brown, ROSE MADDOX, Cliff Bruner, Smokey Woods, J.R. "Chat the Cat" Chatwell, Homer and Jethro, Emmett Miller z..... ............................................................ ................................................zMOON MULLIGAN, JERRY LEE LEWIS, CARL PERKINS, SCOTTY MOORE, Merle Haggard, Jimmie Burton, No Show Jones, Hank Wiliams I, Hank Williams II, Rosie Perez, Jimmy Bryant,z..... ............................................................ ................................................zSam Samudino, Freddy Fender, Little Joe y La Familia, Flaco Jimenez, Los Tigres del Norte z----------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ --- -------------------------------------------------------zRay Charles, Antoine Domino, Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, the Rev. Richard Penniman, Jimmie Hendricks, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, John Hammond Jr., IAN TYSON, IAN AND SYLVIA z..... ............................................................ ................................................zAl The Sheik Reyes, Raeford Starke, Marie Nofsinger, Colin Denny, Bob Murphy, Larry Chrismond, Mathew Sabatella, Deepwater, Mojo Willie, Willie Coleman, Valerie C. Wizecracker, z..... ............................................................ ................................................zDon Sineti, George Dennis Clifford, Charlie Irwin, Doug Dorschug, & Terry Wiznetsky aka Wish. z..... ............................................................ ................................................zWish being the first musician I met the first time I dare to take my first guitar out of the house!
Sounds Like: Tony Thomas, mixes Black banjo, black blues, general old time music, Jimmie Rogers, Jack Elliot, Josh White and anything else you want. More rootsy than jazzy
Record Label: unsigned
Type of Label: None