Your earliest memories are of a nightly ritual, played over and over again, ten thousand times. Waking up just before dawn to the old man's headlights shining in your bedroom window. The familiar bang of a guitar amp slamming against the front door, followed by a reassuring string of four-letter words. Good. He made it home again. You drift back off to sleep, only to be awakened just a few hours later by your mother, who is a singer. You smell coffee and you hear the stereo roaring to life, beckoning you into a world with never enough money, but more wealth than anyone could imagine.
Some kids might be able to fight the currents of such a childhood, but by his eleventh birthday, Jefferson Thomas had thrown up his hands and surrendered, sitting in on bass for the old man's gigs. Within a year the kid had switched to guitar and was writing his own songs. At fifteen he was playing clubs, fairs, and festivals all over the northeast, and soon after he was bringing his unique blend of modern rock, pop, and alt-country to audiences all over the U.S. Radio finally caught wind of Jefferson in 2003, as GRAND CENTRAL STATION, the first single from Jefferson's HEAVY ROTATION CD, spent the winter consistently beating out new offerings from U2, matchbox twenty, Creed, Pink, and Bon Jovi in Adult Contemporary radio playlist adds, according to Friday Morning Quarterback. GRAND CENTRAL STATION started the new year off in the top 40 on the FMQB AC chart. At press time it was at #23 with over 1200 plays per week nationally, and has just passed the 10,000 play mark at commercial radio across America. And now Jefferson is making waves internationally, charting on radio stations as far away as Ireland, Germany, and the Pacific Rim, and playing for our fighting men and women overseas.
Jefferson's powerful vocals and killer guitar stylings are augmented by drummer Neil Nunziato (from the NYC band Mr. Henry, whose debut album was produced by Counting Crows' guitarist David Bryson), veteran NYC session and live bassist Eric Mauriello, and transplanted-Texan guitar and keyboard phenom Anthony Garcia. Together, they serve up a breathless evening of Jefferson's songs as well as some well-chosen cover tunes, the kind that make you say "Whoa, I remember that song!" And then you're in trouble, because chances are you'll end up singing it onstage. Jefferson Thomas blows away that "wall" between performer and audience; he'll suddenly run out and do a song in the middle of the audience with an acoustic guitar, playing and singing without power. And suddenly, you can hear a pin drop in what was a noisy club just a second ago. Or he'll grab a mandolin and the band will suddenly turn the funk tune they were doing into a double-time bluegrass romp. You just never know... Hometown audiences have discovered what all the fuss is about at live shows in New York venues like the Hard Rock Cafe, Arlene Grocery, Washington Square Park, and Central Park. They already know what everyone else across the nation and around the world is now finding out: American rock and pop is alive and well, and its name is JEFFERSON THOMAS.
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