Ian Thomas Or Ian Thomas?

When the Flying Burrito Brothers anthology fell flat on the ears of the kids this morning during the commute to school, I switched over to a disc by Ian Thomas called A Young Man’s Blues. It was recorded in 2003 so, given the youthfulness of the guy on the front cover, I assumed it was a different Ian Thomas than the Canadian cat who recorded Painted Ladies.

I found this be true from looking at his MySpace page. He’s a self-described “songster” from Ashville, North Carolina (which, as far as I know, has not yet annexed itself into Canada) and he’s confirmed to be far younger than the Ian Thomas from the north.

This record, which I borrowed from the library, is a straight-forward set of blues songs written and sung by Thomas while playing guitar, harmonica and the occasional kazoo. (It was the kazoo on track 2, Honey Can I Count On You, that caught the kids attention. They said it sounded like farting. I’m sure when they write their reviews for the class newspaper, their audience will relate.)

It’s a rare set of guy-(or girl)-with-guitar tunes that can capture my interest for long, so this record gets high marks for grabbing my ears. Strangely, most of my favorites were the even numbered tracks, starting with the aforementioned Honey.

Next on my fave list was cut four, I Ain’t Gonna Lose, which launches into a hardcore train-yard blues-harp straight from bar one (even though it’s not a song about trains). It’s about all the places where he “ain’t gonna lose” no more: in the poker parlor, in the bedroom, out in the woods, subject to nature’s judgment.

Ain’t A-Gonna Dredge is a slow blues worthy of the classic inside-and-outside-the-bottle style: “Sometimes I’m full of whiskey/Sometimes I’m full of rye/Sometimes I’m full of women/Sometimes I’m full of lies…”.

Thomas breaks out more great harp playing to open the walking blues love song Sweet Celeny (which I thought was called Sweet Celery until the song started playing). It’s a thoughtful request to his city girl to join him in the country for a meal with clove and mint and thyme, fruit picked from the vine and a bottle of homemade wine.

Breaking with my pattern of even numbered favorites, cut eleven (Black Crow Medicine) is the next one I liked, a twangy, bangy string bending country blues, featuring a wonderful, slightly dissonant acoustic guitar solo. I love I Ain’t Lonesome, a beautiful song of Zen-like simplicity, so much so that I stole the chord progression and wrote a song for my wife called None But You (though I can’t sing to save my life).

There are plenty of influences to heard here but, as you know, I’m diametrically opposed to making comparisons. Suffice it to say, Thomas knows his history, knows how to the play the style and is an adept writer of a young man’s blues. This is a highly recommended record that captures the acoustic blues as well as (and sometimes better than) artists who get a lot more attention.

Support him! See his his MySpace page for concert listings and his website to buy his records.

Take him for a test drive:

Ian Thomas – Honey, Can I Count On You

Ian Thomas – I Ain’t Lonesome