Bio

[b][color="darkred"]THE ARTIST AND HIS INFLUENCES:[/b] B.Thomas is a norwegian country artist from Narvik in the north part of Norway. He is a well established singer and entertainer. He has a lot of experience from consepts as the duo “Brooks & Tucker” 1999 – 2002, ( a duo together with a female singer) this duo played cover material from Garth Brooks and Tanya Tucker. After the brakeup he started the sucsessfull duo called “Western Boots” who later became a trio, they played a lot of places between 2003-2005, the Western Boots concept ended in 2005. Then he became the solo artist B.Thomas. He have performed on many stages and places in north Norway, central Norway and some festivals and other country arrangements, also in Sweden. His influences are Clint Black, Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson and George Strait. The 28 of April 2006 , he released his album called “In the Shadow of The Stars”, wich is a album with coversongs from the above country stars. Now he have released his second album called “True Blue Cowboy”, wich was recorded in Nashville TN, August 2007. [b]THE NEW ALBUM (True Blue Cowboy):[/b] The album contains 4 new never released, and so called “Number one songs”, one of these songs, “Tonight I`m Leaving” is written by himself and composed and co-written by the much talented musician Tony West (earlyer band mate from Western Boots). 3 songs is pretty much unknown songs that have been demoed or performed by the songwriters and others. One of these songs, “Did I open My Eyes” was recorded as a demo with Garth Brooks in 1989, the same week as he got his first record deal. He never recorded this song for any album. The song was written by Nashville producer Lonnie Ratliff, composed and co-written by Tom Mitchell and Larry Forney. 3 songs on the album is cover versions from Garth Brooks (2 songs) and Clint Black (1 song). The album is a mix between traditional country music and contemporary or more modern style country. 2 of these songs can be classified as country with a little taste of Pop. The new album was recorded in Nashville TN in August 2007 and produced by the legendary producer Lonnie Ratliff, who has produced with artists as Kenny Chesney, Garth Brooks (demo), Shawn Camp, Stephanie Davis, (earlyer background singer for Garth Brooks), Erin Hay, Joni Compretta, Brent Mcathey, Bengt Pedersen and more artists. The Album is Mastered by Eric Conn at Independent Mastering in Nashville, one of the “big guys” in business, who has worked with many of the brand names in country music. [b]BIOGRAPHY AND STORY:[/b] B.Thomas was born 24 of October in 1971 in Narvik, North part of Norway. He is educated and graduated as a marin engineer, he was workin` for some years onboard different ships, in both Norwegian and foreign waters, from a engine assistant to chief engineer. He have been workin ashore since february 2000, since the music became more important to him, he desired to not be at sea all the time. He was interested in music at an early age, and tried out several different music styles before he decided that country music was the right thing for him to do. He has always enjoyed singing, and decided that becoming a lead vocal would be his main aim. He`s influences in country music is guy`s like Clint Black, Garth Brooks and more. In the middle of the 90`s he started to perform music. Early in the 90`s he had discovered country artist Garth Brooks, some years later he started to perform as a Garth inpersonator. Bjornar really related with the country star and used to practice the singing style as part of his hobby. This developed into more than just a hobby in 1999 when he created a concept together with another singer, Kate Lee also from Narvik. Together they started a country music entertainment show, travelling around Northern Norway performing as "Garth Brooks" & "Tanya Tucker". The successful duo, called "Brooks & Tucker", dressed in original style garments & with accessories like shirts, boots and western hats received great responses from their audiences, and a lot of stage experience. In October 2002 he mooved to Steinkjer in central Norway, and stayed there for a little longer than a year, together with another female country artist, he started the duo "Western Boots". They traveled around from central part of Norway to the north and performed cover material from many well known American country star. In december 2003 his bandmate decided to moove on with her musical career as a solo artist, Bjornar "saddled up" and did the "ride" back to his hometown, Narvik in North. In the suitcase he had the "Western Boots" concept, cause he was the only one left. Together with a musical friend, he started to go under the name B.Thomas and continued the "Western Boots", they also took his earlyer bandmate Kate Lee in, and together they became a successful country group. After some months Kate Lee had to moove to the south part of Norway together with her fiance who is a drummer. B.Thomas and his bandmate Tony, mooved on with "Western Boots" and did a lot of performances together. After several months with thinking of what he really wanted to do, B.Thomas found that becoming a solo artist was the only thing he had missed during his musical career, to be able to make his own records without beeing committed to anyone else. Late November 2005, after many discustions about the "Western Boots" and what they wanted to do further, B.Thomas decided to leave "Western Boots and to moove on as a solo artist. He has been an solo Artist since then, and released one single, 2 albums and one music video. [b]DISCOGRAPHY:[/b] April 15 2006: the single "Callin Baton Rouge" was released in a very limited edition. This cd can be special ordered throug the official websites. 28 of April 2006: He released a cd album with cover material from his favorite country stars. "In The Shadow of The Stars" The CD contain 11 tracks from well known stars as Garth Brooks, Clint Black, Alan Jackson and George Strait. The title of the album means that B.Thomas is paying tribute to these country stars, by putting himself "in the shadow" of them. The last track on the disc, is a duet that was originally done by Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood on Garth`s album "Sevens". On this B.Thomas album, the song is performed by him and Belinda Horn, also based in Narvik Norway. New current CD Album 2007 - “True Blue Cowboy” The album is a mix between traditional country music and contemporary or more modern style country. The Album contains 7 New / unknown songs and 3 cover versions. The new album was recorded in Nashville TN in August 2007 and produced by the legendary producer Lonnie Ratliff. The Producer, Engineers and Musicians in Nashville, Behind this album: [color="darkred"][b] Musicians:[/b][/color] Guitars: Vaughn Lofstead Bass: Dow Tomlin Drums: Steve Holland Keyboards: Rodger Morris Steel Guitar / Dobro: Perly Curtis Fiddle / Mandolin: David Russel Lead Vocals: B.Thomas Harmony Vocals: Larry Marrs (one of the best harmony singers out there) Producer: Lonnie Ratliff Studio Engineer: Vaughn Lofstead (recording and mixing) Recorded in Dixiana and Smokehouse Recording Studios, Nashville TN. Mastered By: Eric Conn at Independent Mastering, Nashville. Published & Released by Redneck Records, Narvik Norway [u][u][p][p][color="blue"][u][b] [link="http://www.bthomas.no"] B.Thomas Official Website [/link] [/b][/u][/color][/p][/p] [p][p][color="blue"][u][b][/u] [u][link="http://www.redneck-records.com"] Redneck Records - Record Company Website [/link] [/b][/u][/color][/p][/p][/u][/u]