| Barikada
- World Of Music - Svastara - 2008 |
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THOMAS OLIVER
Phoenix, Arizona (USA)
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Thomas Oliver
Phoenix, Arizona, United States of America |
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Thomas Oliver is blues / rock / classic rock musician from
Phoenix, Arizona,
United States of America.
Meet him a little bit better through this conversation:
Q. What is your song "The Arizona Way" about and why did you write
it?
A. It's not about Arizona's natural beauty. "The Arizona Way" is about the
spirit of the people who live here. Most of them came, like I did, from elsewhere
- looking for a better way. I'm telling the story of the creation and discovery
of the
Arizona way.
Q. What does "The Arizona Way" say to your listeners?
A. I'm saluting
them. It's like a handshake. It says "I know where you're
coming from and maybe even why". My own story is in the song too.
So when I sing it we trade understanding for recognition.
Q. How did you get started in music?
A. Somebody loaned me a beat up silver trombone when I was 11 years old.
I was addicted to a transistor radio and my favorite song was "Stranger
On The Shore". Then I started singing gospel music in a pentecostal
church and playing a friend's ukulele. My dad gave me a $15 Silvertone guitar
from Sears and I started making up songs. The first one was a spiritual called "Through
To The End".
Q. Did anyone in particular influence your playing style?
A. Merle Travis,
Segovia, Chuck Berry, B. B. King, Muddy Waters, Wes Montgomery, George Benson,
Joe Pass, Nokie Edwards and Carol Kay.
Q. How about your singing style?
A. Too many to catalog! Harry Nilsson more
than anybody.
Q. How did you become an Arizonan?
A. I left Los Angeles in August of 1984 with an aching heart. I drove to Phoenix
to visit my Arizona native mother. I had no air conditioning in my car so I
was humming "By the time I get to Phoenix I'll be charbroiled". Later
I wrote a song based on that experience called "The Hotfoot". I worked two
jobs in the daytime and played lead guitar in Phoenix honky tonks at night. Phoenix
was booming with new skyscrapers, shopping centers and suburbs
springing up overnight. It was a vibrant environment (still is) and I made
my home right in the middle of it. I found happiness here. Many good songs
have been sung about Arizona. there's so much here in Arizona to inspire artists
of all kinds. My contribution, "The Arizona Way", concerns
the people. So I'm happy to send it out for each and every one of us Arizonans.
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