A train, a steeler, and his dog - death and survival

[Ron Whitfield]

http://www.10news.com/news/24680411/detail.html
http://www.10news.com/news/24669294/detail.html

Condolences to Thomas for his loss, and congratulations for gaining more years of life after such a close call.

[Barry Blackwood]

Where's the steeler part? The article says he was a bass player ....

[Ron Whitfield]

In the article I read it said Thomas is also a steeler. Or maybe it was his dog...

[Alvin Blaine]

Thomas is a killer stand up bass player, and was the center of the '80s rockabilly revival. I did many shows with him back then.
I wish him a speedy recovery and condolences on the loss of his friend.

[Rick Schmidt]

Here's a video of Thomas playing steel...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJoNgKptcoE

Thomas is quite the renaissance man in a retro kinda way! His studio (down by the train tracks)in Oceanside CA is almost a museum of "Hi-Fi" recording technology. He builds tube amps and tube mics from scratch. He even made his own wall sized plate reverb that kicks a** on any digital verbs I've heard. Even though he mixes down to Pro Tools, he tracks exclusively on analog tape...which is quite a feat since you can't buy the stuff anymore. His steel is an older MSA that he rebuilt more or less from the ground up using stainless steel for the changer fingers etc. The guy is a visionary, and he pulls it off on a gigging musicians income!

Thomas played bass for me on a quasi jazz gigs last hear. Pardon my clams. http://www.vimeo.com/7368681

Anyone who contributes to Thomas' fund will be really helping out a true unique and deserving member of our steel guitar family!

[Ron Whitfield]

Thank you for all that, Rick!

[Alvin Blaine]

http://www.helpthomas.com/

[Ron Whitfield]

Thanx, Alvin!