Ian Thomas
Canadian music icon Ian Thomas is at Chatham’s Capitol Theatre Nov. 2, and he may very well enjoy the event as much as the patrons will.
Thomas is in town as part of An Artist Life series put on by Cameron Smillie.
He has never played the Capitol before, but Thomas recalls doing shows in town years ago.
“I performed at The Wheels every once in a while way back. I may have played an arena show back in the day too,” he said.
For Thomas, “back in the day” began in the early 1970s. After beginning his music career in a folk band called Tranquility Base, he ventured off on his own in 1973. It was that year he released his best-known song, “Painted Ladies.”
Thomas has penned other charting songs, such as “Hold On” and “Levity.” As well, he has written songs for a number of other performers. Musicians who have covered Thomas tunes include the likes of Carlos Santana, Manfred Mann, Bette Midler, Chicago, and America.
Thomas said he’s done several of Artist Life events in other parts of Ontario recently and really enjoys the intimate and interactive element.
He said Smillie will interview him for a time, Thomas will perform several songs, and then the audience will have the opportunity to ask questions before Thomas performs again.
“It’s an interview and some of the stories behind the songs,” Thomas explained. “It seems to be well received so far. It’s got a Q&A element as well. We’re up close and personal with the audience.”
He said the question-and-answer period in particular can get very personal.
“When some of your songs have become the soundtrack to people’s lives, you don’t realize how much some of your stuff has meant to people,” he said. “It’s really such a privilege when you think about it.”
And there are times when the Q&A session clarifies a few things. Thomas said one individual asked him who Wanda was in reference to Thomas’ song “Pilot.”
“I said, ‘Who is Wanda,” and he replied, ‘The person who disappeared in Pilot,’” Thomas said. “I told him the lyric is actually ‘One to one they disappear.’ He said, “You ruined the song for me.”
Thomas really enjoys the Q&A sessions, including hearing people’s interpretation of a song’s meaning.
That open interpretation is something he believes took a beating when music videos came into being in the early 1980s.
“The advent of video was awful from two aspects. It gives some hackneyed interpretation of the lyrics, and it required singers to be bad actors,” he said, adding there was an even worse fallout from music videos. “The record companies gave the videos away to MTV and Much Music. They essentially funded two new television channels. But the artists had to pay back all the costs of the video. This began the debasement of music.”
The Internet only further damaged the music industry, Thomas added. He said the record companies didn’t properly plan in terms of research and development and how to best make use of the Internet.
“Now, virtually all the retail outlets are gone,” he said. “I feel really bad for the young artists. They kind of get one time up to bat. It’s really unfortunate.”
Thomas is at the Capitol Theatre Nov. 2 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $30 plus handling fee and are available through the theatre’s website, stclaircollegecapitoltheatre.com.
