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THE ABACUS GROUP

INFINITE POSSIBILITIES!

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Billy Thompson
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BT has performed "live" with Little Milton, Art Neville, Elvin Bishop, Lucky Peterson, Sir Harry Bowens (Bonnie Raitt,Was Not Was), Mark Campbell (Jack Mack and the Heart Attack) as well as late blues greats, Earl and Albert King ... just to name a few. In '02, he also toured with "Thunder Knocking On The Door". The critically aclaimed "Bluesical" featuring the music of Keb Mo and toured w/ Broadway Musical "It Ain't Nothing But The Blues" in 2000.
Whether working with a quartet, leading a 7 piece horn band like Big Chief or backing such accomplished musicians as Art Neville of the Neville Brothers,... blues icons, Little Milton, Albert and Earl King or even Broadway's Leslie Uggams, singer-songwiter-guitarist Billy Thompson has earned consistent public and critical acclaim since 1987.
Thompson's music bristles with the infectious, syncopated sounds of New Orleans, the electricity of great rock 'n' roll, the punchy verve of Memphis soul and the heartfelt power of blues, funk and jazz.
By turns punchy and poignant, earthy and elegant, his vivid songwriting draws from a rich stylistic well to create classic American music that is steeped in tradition yet unmistakably vital and contemporary.
His tasty, melting pot style is is highlighted on his 1991 debut album, "Coat of Many Colors," "Tangerine Sky" in 1998 and his latest work, "Area 51."
Whether performing original material or covering familiar music everyone has heard, Billy's impassioned vocals, virtuostic guitar work and artistic vision never fail to deliver.
Billy T has performed on ABC TV's " The View" with Barbara Walters, with The San Diego Symphony at San Diego's Symphony Hall, The King Biscuit Blues Festival in Helena, AR, BB King's in Memphis, BB King's Bar & Grille in New York City, Qualcomm's Super Fest for the 2002 Super Bowl, numerous appearances at Humphrey's Open Air Concerts in San Diego and The San Diego Street Scene, the Grand opening of the House of Blues Los Angeles in 1993 w/Little Milton and recorded the soundtrack to the critically acclaimed musical,Thunder Knocking On The Door, with platinum recording artist Keb Mo.
Late Delta great, Frank Frost used to request songs written by Thompson on KFFA Radio in Helena, AR.
Bonnie Ste Croix
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In 2007 Bonnie released Here I Am created with award-winning producer, Bill Buckingham and featuring the talent of Robbie Steininger, Geoff Hicks, Lee Oliphant and Sue Leonard. By far her strongest album yet, Here I Am offers a string of insightful yet accessible songs that re-define the Indie tradition and transcend its boundaries making it sure to become her trademark and an industry groundbreaking album. In April 2007, Bonnie was added to the rosters for two companies, in Hollywood and in Michigan who will non-exclusively represent her for film and television placement. The first inaugural reviews on Bonnie’s new album offered:
“Here I Am" has very nice feeling and mood to it and is very accessible for radio. “Berry Point Road" has a great instrumental intro and “Eddy" is a nice country/pop rock diversion without being "out of place" from the other songs. The vocals are great and suit the material very well. Her voice is very reminiscent of Sarah McLachlan at times but it somehow manages to keep its own identity. The instruments are exceptionally played…The production on the tracks is done well and the drums also have a nice sound…with a few extra instruments/sounds that give it a little bit of an edge over a lot of other singer-songwriter music out today. A lot the songs have a more “organic" feel and the synth contributes nicely in “Here I Am". All the songs are musically and lyrically different and original. Some have catchy hooks in the choruses and verses; are quite accessible and easy to listen to. Fifty Fifty Music New York, NY
“Ste-Croix is a talented singer-writer whose latest CD, Here I Am, neatly balances serious pop with a rootsy type of rock. Nicely done.” Tom Harrison, The Province.
“The Gaspé, Québec native possesses the songwriting prowess of storytellers Dar Williams, Shawn Colvin and Tom Waits, with an immediately recognizable, smoky voice that fluctuates between a sensual bluesy Bessie Smith, an assertive country-tinged Mary Chapin Carpenter, and a heartfelt acoustic rocker Sarah McLachlan.” B.L. Whitehall, Extra West. "Produced by Vancouver's Bill Buckingham and featuring some of our best players, this is a rich amalgam of writing styles from a fine singer (with)…songs like 'Berry Point Road" showing loving attention to craft." John McLaughlin, The ProvinceI edited my profile with Thomas Myspace Editor V4.4 (www.strikefile.com/myspace)

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 1/8/2008
Band Members:

PRESIDENT: TRAVIS PARKS

CEO: FRED BUTTRAM

SUE LEONARD: Singer, Songwriter

CONTACT:
FRED BUTTRAM
3210 East Chinden Blvd.
box 115-416
Eagle, Idaho 83616
email: [email protected]
phone: 1.208.859.9476

Sue Leonard

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Sue, originally form Hamilton, Ontario, is one of the most in demand and recorded female vocalists on the West Coast She is an exceptional and unique talent who is informed by a myriad of influences but arrives as truly her own very individual voice. What she delivers is very soulful and a powerhouse of emotionally charged sound.

Sue has recorded and performed with a variety of artists, including k.d. lang (Constant Craving), Bon Jovi (Lay Your Hands On Me), Colin Linden, Stephen Fearing of Blackie and The Roadeo Kings, Richard Bell, Joan Bessen of Prarie Oyster, Sue Foley. Sue was the background vocalist for k.d. lang on two world tours, Absolute Torch & Twang and Ingenué.
In 1989/1990 The Reclines won Best Back Up Band in Canada at the C.C.M.A.

Since moving to the Vancouver Sue continues to be involved in a myriad of projects, studio sessions, T.V. and radio commercials, and live dates as well as developing her own material and writes with and for other artists.

"Sue sings with real soul and impeccable taste. She is a joy to make music with!"
-Greg Leisz
(Pedal Steel with kd lang, Joe Cocker, Joni Mitchell, Lucinda Williams, Percy Sledge, Willie Nelson & Sheryl Crow)

"Sue is the owner of what I consider to be some of the most expressive and heartfelt vocal performances I have ever had the pleasure of recording. Her vocal depth and ability to turn a variety of lyrics into magical and moving music, will undoubtedly move and reward every listener. She is great talent with a beautiful persona. I hope you have the opportunity to find out for yourself."
-David Slagter Producer / Engineer

"Sue Leonard is wonderfully talented, intuitive, creative, and able to sing absolutely anything - passionately.... she's also one of the nicest people I've ever met."
-Ben Mink Producer/Songwriter

"from the minute i heard sue's voice, i heard a soul. i heard an ability. I hired her immediately a true professional and a wonderful spirit."
-kd lang

"If every singer on this show tonight sang like Sue we'd have one hell of a show"
-Mike Greene President of NARAS (backstage at the Grammy Awards)

"The sound was rich and eerily perfect from the very first bar of the opener, "Save Me", a slow, smokey arrangement typical of Ingenue. lang's singing and that of the backing vocalists Linda Kidder and Sue Leonard was well above the technical standard encountered at most rock shows..."
-From BBC Life and Times (kd lang at the Hammersmith Odean Theatre)

"When Sue sings it send shivers up my spine."
-Tom Harrison
Music Journalist The Vancouver Province

"What a powerful voice."
-Denise Donlen Much Music

TELEVISION AND RADIO

k.d. lang special - Buffalo Cafe (CBC) Saturday Night Live
The Johnny Carson Show
Late Night with Jay Leno
Arsenio Hall
The David Letterman Show
MTV Unplugged Special
The Grammys
The Juno Awards
Canadian Country Music Awards
Town and Country TV Special
Jools Holland Show
Top of The Pops (England)
TV5 (France)
Rock Steady TV
Pebble Mill TV Birmingham
Jonathon Ross TV London
Spanish TV
The Vicki Gabereau Show
Detroit Public Television Special
BBC 1 TV Special London with kd lang
The Early Edition - CBC Radio Vancouver
Breakfast TV -City TV
Pink Planet - City TV (theme song)

Russell Marsland

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Russell Marsland started Pro Gigging when he was 15 Years old. Playing in strip bars backing dancers one night, and playing Latin Funk gigs the next. One of his Mentors is BB King.

Russell says, "I got my first album from a church Bazzar when I was 8 or 9 years old. It was BB King (The King Of The Blues), on orange plastic. I was just a kid, but what I heard for the first time was something I knew in my heart! BB just made me feel something...and his Voice!!! My God...to this day he slays me."

Many years later Russell's Band opened for BB and it all came full circle. Russell recalls,"I was so nervous...we did sound check, and I went home for supper and came back to the Theater, and 5 minutes before the show I realized I had left my Gibson ES 335 at home and had to borrow a piece of crap guitar from this guy who was working back stage...I was sweating space ships! And with BB back stage..oh God!

Playing a lot of different gigs over the years, I feel that all that whacky experience makes you a better on the fly player. I just plug in and go!. Also Playing with James Brown, Allman Bros, War, Chuck Berry....brings you some amazing memories that will last a lifetime! "As long as I'm breathing..I'm Playing!"

Tom Faulkner

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Like Texico, Raise the Roof is explosive at times, yet gentle at others. The sounds and the stories are vintage Faulkner, taking the listener farther down a wonderfully familiar road, but with powerful new twists and turns that leave you, once again, longing for more. Faulkners musical acumen even caught the attention of New Orleans legendary Dr. John, who joined Tom to sing on Blues Across America, a rocking tribute to the heritage of American blues. Raise the Roof is sure to impact existing fans, as well as invite new ones.

Faulkner, a New Orleans-born singer/songwriter/producer knew by age 5 that music would be the fascination of his life when his mother took him to see Lawrence of Arabia and he begged her to buy him the music score. After earning a degree in philosophy from Washington & Lee University, returned to Dallas and put together a band,The Coconuts, that achieved rapid and prolonged regional success.

Faulkners reputation as an accomplished composer caught the attention of advertising executives. Consequently, while en route to a singer/songwriter career, Tom created some of the most memorable commercial music onAmerican television and radio. Most notably, he composed I Want My Baby Back for Chilis, as well as the theme for Tom Bodett and Motel 6.

Still, Faulkner never abandoned his dream of one day owning his own studio and producing his own music, so in 1990 he methodically assembled one of the finest state-of-the-art recording facilities in Texas. It should come as no surprise that in his endeavor to develop his own unique sound, Faulkner relied not on a record company to create his first CD, but on his own expertise and vision. Not that he doesn't credit many talented and supportive people who played essential roles, but Lost in the Land of Texico is truly an expression from the heart.

Lost in the Land of Texico arose, in part, from the memories of his travels over the backroads of the Southwest. His unique blend of Texas rock, blues, Cajun and Tejano music is a heartfelt abandonment of musical trends and a passionate embrace of the rich ethnic heritage of "Texico."

* Delbert McClinton caught wind of Toms talent and co-wrote New York City with him in the summer of 2001. Delbert since placed it on his new CD, Room To Breathe, released September 2002.

Faulkner has worked in the studio and/or written with such notable artists as Dr. John, EmmyLou Harris, Flaco Jimenez, Asleep At The Wheel, Delbert McClinton, The Texas Tornadoes, Eric Johnson, Wayne Toups, Paul Brandt, Jimmy Wayne, Tom Douglas, Steve Jordan, Brave Combo, Pat Coil and many others. He plays acoustic and electric guitars, bottleneck slide guitar, dobro, mandola, bajo sexto, Hammond organ, clavinet, and percussion instruments. Coupled with an explosive band, these songs come to life on stage as well as they did in the studio.

Suzanne Gitzi

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Suzanne Gitzi exploded on the Music scene in October 1993 with her debut album "Fallen Angel." Fallen Angel yielded 5 top 40 hits, including the 1 single, "The Runaround" voted one of the top 12 albums In Canada that year. Following her success, her second release, "Dressed in Black" spawned tour videos and high rotation on CMT.

Suzanne Gitzi Is a rare find when It comes to singers! her voice can only be described as unbelievable!
Record Label: THE ABACUS GROUP
Type of Label: Indie

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