Canadian pop-rock music legend coming to St. Catharines stage
Published March 3, 2023 at 1:11 pm
Even if you’re not 100 per cent sure who singer Ian Thomas is, if you’re of a certain age, you know his music.
During the 1970s and early-1980s, Thomas, the younger brother of SCTV comedian Dave Thomas, knocked out hit after hit on Canadian radio and soon he’ll be landing at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre in St. Catharines.
Songs like Painted Ladies, Hold On, Chains, The Runner, Right Before Your Eyes, Come The Sun, Pilot, Coming Home and The Runner were staples on the radio back in the day.
Thomas hasn’t done a solo tour with a full band since The Runner Tour in 1981 and recently announced he’s “getting pumped about my upcoming Not Gone Yet! concert tour.”
“Given the long hiatus, I figured I better do another while I still can!” he said of not being on the road for the past 42 years.
“I’ve enlisted a stellar group of musicians to join me. Not only are these guys amazing players, but they are also wonderful friends,” he noted.
On stage with Thomas will be Paul Intson on bass, Kevin Adamson on keys, Danny Lockwood on drums and Johnny Zee on lead guitar. “We are going to rock… and then some.”
Ian Thomas, shown here during his late-1970s heyday, has seen his music covered
by names such as Santana, Chicago, Manfred Mann’s Earth Band and Bette Midler.
Aside from his music, Thomas is a film-composer with 22 feature films to his credit; an author; an actor, much sought after as a voice-over artist and recognized for roles such as Dougie Franklin on the Red Green Show.
But, of course, he is best-remembered as a Juno-award-winning Singer-Songwriter “whose songs helped form the bedrock of the Canadian musical landscape,” a contribution recognized by Canadian music organization SOCAN who honoured him with a National Achievement Award for Songwriting.
Thomas’ tour hit the stage at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre on May 4 at 7:30. Tickets are $55.94 and can be found HERE.
Here, Thomas talks about his hit Hold On on the Behind The Vinyl podcast.