News Archive

ALBANY, NY -- (9/15/2008) -- In anticipation of a tentative Halloween official release date, Albany-based soul rock singer songwriter Bryan Thomas has launched an online preview of his fifth album 1369 LIGHTS at www.bryanthomas.com/1369. The preview includes:

• STREAMING AUDIO: The entire album is now available for listening as streaming audio. Adobe Flash required.
• FREE MP3 DOWNLOADS: Beginning Monday, September 22, a free download will be available as the featured "MP3 of the Week." This will continue with a new song each Monday until the official album release, tentatively set for Friday, October 31.
• MORE FUN STUFF: Photos, lyrics, album liner notes and info on Thomas' new band the Buggy Jive.

In addition to the preview online at bryanthomas.com, preview audio is also online at MySpace and FaceBook.

Soul rocker Bryan Thomas hails from New York's capital city of Albany. The Albany Times Union named him "Best Male Singer-Songwriter" shortly after he released his acoustic hip-hop debut Radio Plastic Jennifer in 1999. The follow-up soul rock epic Ones and Zeros was Metroland Magazine's "Album of the Year" in 2002. Samples of Bryan's music, video and poetry can be found online at his award-winning web site bryanthomas.com, and at TheHiddenCity.com, a webzine for underground arts in Albany. Thomas is a founding member of the Hidden City collective.

- 30 -

Photo of BT and MotherJudge at Tess' Lark Tavern by Luanne Ferris appears courtesy the Times Union.

Albany soul rock singer-songwriter Bryan Thomas was one of nearly a dozen musicians selected by the Times Union to take part in the newspaper's challenge for a musical twist to the annual "Best of the Capital Region" issue, which posed the following question:

"What's your favorite thing about your community? And how would you set it to music?"

It didn't take long for Thomas to settle on singer-songwriter Caroline Isachsen, a.k.a. MotherJudge, and the community she's built around her "Best Damn Open Mic Night Ever" at Tess' Lark Tavern.


"For anyone else on the planet, being a singer and songwriter with as much talent and passion as MotherJudge would be enough. But the good mother (a.k.a. Caroline Isachsen) is also a passionate and tireless supporter of arts in the Capital Region, especially with her legendary open mic nights, which have existed in one form or another at practically every venue in Albany. I'm beyond grateful for her support, encouragement and inspiration over the years - and I'm grateful to be included in the community of misfit musicians and poets and artists she's nurtured with her open mics, which are indeed like open arms."

Learn more online - and see the video - at bryanthomas.com/motherjudge.

What is Sugar Cookie?

Sugar Cookie is a band by proxy; none of the musicians on this recording performed in the same room at the same time. Instead, each phase of the recording was transferred between contributors via the internet and US mail.

Album producer Dan Sorensen conceived of a unique way to make music with artists he admired but whose schedules did not allow for a more traditional collaboration. He recorded complete drum arrangements and passed them on to 4 songwriters: Bryan Thomas, Ben Karis, Martha Kronholm, and Troy Pohl. Each writer applied a unique treatment to their respective pieces and returned them to Sorensen. Olivia Nix then provided supporting vocals to both Karis tunes. From there, the tracks were passed on to Bob Buckley to record bass. Finally, Frank Moscowitz, (in addition to his duties as co-producer, engineer, and mixer) provided guitar, vocal, and keyboard tracks to complete each recording.

The result is a surprisingly cohesive record, and a warm representation of the vibrant Albany, NY music scene.

Soul rock singer-songwriter Thomas contributes two songs: the radio-friendly rocker "Anythang," a lament to the teeny-bopper singer-songwriter of the week, and the soulful "Jealous," which plays on his hesitations in participating in a project with so many talented musicians and songwriters - even calling them out by name.

Learn more at the official site. Stream the full tunes at MySpace. And enjoy.

From Metroland:

Saturday night (Sept. 24) at the Lark Tavern saw the blending of two worlds: the rockers and the fashionistas (we're guessing it made for one hell of an after-party). Local designers presented their clothing lines while Bryan Thomas soul-rocked-out wearing a Liability T-shirt (by local designer Tommy Watkins) in between models strutting their stuff on the catwalk.

For more pictures of this event (and the before-and-after craziness), check out www.thehiddencity.com.

Photo Credit: Chris Shields

Albany soul rock singer songwriter Bryan Thomas will officially release his new album, SPY LOVE BOX, Saturday, July 30, 2005.

The release will coincide with a party at Tess' Lark Tavern to celebrate the new music video for the song "Babylon," from the 2004 album of the same name.

SPY LOVE BOX is the sequel to the BABYLON record. It began as a short collection of solo-acoustic demos recorded live in Bryan's bedroom July 4, 2004, and grew over the next several months. The album picks up where BABYLON left off with more songs reflecting on bombs over Baghdad and the birth of a baby girl.

The "Babylon" music video was filmed over three days in the fall of 2004 on location at Tess' Lark Tavern on Madison Avenue in Albany. The video was directed by screenwriter and producer Carl W. Liss of Los Angeles in partnership with GoPicture Productions and Bionic Media of New York City.

Details on the release of SPY LOVE BOX and the party for the "Babylon" music video are forthcoming.