Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Earl Thomas, back from Europe (again)

"He admitted to me later that they had trashed the room."

Earl Thomas has no time for alkies.
Earl Thomas has no time for alkies.

Earl Thomas, the soulful belter from Pikeville, Tennessee, who started singing the blues locally after getting kicked out of the Navy for being gay, has released 15 albums. He has recorded with the late BB King and written songs that were performed by Etta James and Tom Jones. He makes his money fronting his own band which tours Europe five or six months a year.

Video:

Earl Thomas, "Tennessee Whiskey"

“That all started because I got to play the Montreux jazz Festival [in Switzerland] in 1992,” Thomas said while riding an Amtrak from L.A. last week. He was returning from LAX after a tour that took him to Finland, Denmark, Belgium, Spain, and the UK.

Sponsored
Sponsored

During his 25 years of touring overseas, he’d usually rely on European pickup musicians. But last year he toured with a backup band he met in Portland.

“We were touring ten countries,” said Thomas. “By the third country, I learned these guys were alcoholics. Not heavy drinkers, but full-on alcoholics…. One night in Spain I saw one of them in the lobby handing this guy from the hotel all this money. He admitted to me later that they had trashed the room and he was paying for damages. I was raised surrounded by that kind of alcoholism. That’s why I know when it gets that bad you cannot forgive. You cannot trust them. It’s out of the question.”

Thomas fired them right before a ten-day break. He came back to San Diego and decided to recruit a quasi-all-star band to finish the tour, including members of Sol e Mar, Second Cousin, the San Diego Zoo Chameleons, Soul Ablaze, and Jimmy Ruelas. The six-man band just returned from their second European tour with Thomas.

Place

Winstons Beach Club

1921 Bacon Street, San Diego

Thomas will next perform at Winstons (with the Roving Marauders, 5–8 p.m. Sunday), the place that launched his career 30 years ago.

“I tried out for the Rhumboogies at Winstons in 1987.” He got the gig (the late Candye Kane also tried out) and fronted the band most every Sunday for eight years.

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Elevated ice crystals lead to solar halos, Cottonwoods still showing their tawny foliage

New moon brings high tides this weekend
Next Article

Remote work = cleaner air for San Diego

Locals working from home went from 8.1 percent to 17.8 percent
Earl Thomas has no time for alkies.
Earl Thomas has no time for alkies.

Earl Thomas, the soulful belter from Pikeville, Tennessee, who started singing the blues locally after getting kicked out of the Navy for being gay, has released 15 albums. He has recorded with the late BB King and written songs that were performed by Etta James and Tom Jones. He makes his money fronting his own band which tours Europe five or six months a year.

Video:

Earl Thomas, "Tennessee Whiskey"

“That all started because I got to play the Montreux jazz Festival [in Switzerland] in 1992,” Thomas said while riding an Amtrak from L.A. last week. He was returning from LAX after a tour that took him to Finland, Denmark, Belgium, Spain, and the UK.

Sponsored
Sponsored

During his 25 years of touring overseas, he’d usually rely on European pickup musicians. But last year he toured with a backup band he met in Portland.

“We were touring ten countries,” said Thomas. “By the third country, I learned these guys were alcoholics. Not heavy drinkers, but full-on alcoholics…. One night in Spain I saw one of them in the lobby handing this guy from the hotel all this money. He admitted to me later that they had trashed the room and he was paying for damages. I was raised surrounded by that kind of alcoholism. That’s why I know when it gets that bad you cannot forgive. You cannot trust them. It’s out of the question.”

Thomas fired them right before a ten-day break. He came back to San Diego and decided to recruit a quasi-all-star band to finish the tour, including members of Sol e Mar, Second Cousin, the San Diego Zoo Chameleons, Soul Ablaze, and Jimmy Ruelas. The six-man band just returned from their second European tour with Thomas.

Place

Winstons Beach Club

1921 Bacon Street, San Diego

Thomas will next perform at Winstons (with the Roving Marauders, 5–8 p.m. Sunday), the place that launched his career 30 years ago.

“I tried out for the Rhumboogies at Winstons in 1987.” He got the gig (the late Candye Kane also tried out) and fronted the band most every Sunday for eight years.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Live Five: Greyboy Allstars, Acoustic Revolt, Scary Pierre, Thee Sacred Souls, Glass Spells

Anniversaries, record releases, and fundraisers in Solana Beach, Ocean Beach, Little Italy, and Midway District
Next Article

City Lights: Journey Through Light & Sound, Hotel Holiday Tea Service

Events December 7-December 11, 2024
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader