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At the age of 11, Thomas Vecera's hands itched to beat the skins as a drummer. Unfortunately, Thomas' parents did not share this driving desire, and thus it was that Thomas' fingers found their way to his dad's '65 Gibson and that he turned to the guitar for solace. After two years of listening to his self-taught guitar playing, Thomas' parents realized time alone would not tame him and signed him up with a teacher. Jackie was in her 60s, but she put the rock infusion into Thomas' virgin veins by teaching him some classic Judas Priest songs on her steel guitar. High school is a fertile ground for a budding troubadour, and Thomas plowed it with furrows ankle-deep. His stylish mullet pulled in the babes with gravitational force while he honed his chops around his hometown of Sealy, Texas, playing in various cover bands. Once he'd pushed every one of Sealy's envelopes to the limit -- and graduated -- Thomas moseyed over to Austin to challenge its renowned music scene and build a career of his own. He played guitar for various projects, fearlessly tackling a range of styles from hillbilly-punk to contemporary pop before settling in with a pop-rock band called Newman. Newman was not only a showcase for Thomas' increasingly sophisticated guitar playing, but it allowed him to make his singing debut. During his time with Newman, Thomas developed his songwriting techniques and before long he joined a rock band called Guv'nor Smile. With Guv'nor Smile, he shared both writing and singing responsibilities and enjoyed two years as a resident of the Austin scene. From coffeehouses to clubs such as Steamboat, Babe's, Hole in the Wall, Saxon Pub and Top of the Mark, Thomas' smart rock melodies were played and the fans were hooked. It was around this time that Thomas met Eric Sagotsky, a fellow singer-songwriter, and the two of them began writing together. Finding their partnership produced passionate, harmony-laden pop songs with unique melodies and progressions, they decided to start their own band called On The Air in November 1998. In 1999, On The Air teamed up with producer David Eaton to record the single "Lucy," which received its first mass exposure on Austin radio station KLBJ. Following the success of "Lucy," Thomas and Eric then worked with producers Mark Hallman and Stephen Doster to produce a 5-song ep called "...announcing On the Air," which proved to be the culmination of their fruitful seasoning in the Austin scene. In search of an ever wider audience, Thomas and Eric moved On The Air to Los Angeles in January 2001. They recruited additional musicians and changed the name of the band to Painting Emily. Backed with bass and drums, Painting Emily played LA clubs such as 14 Below, The Gig and The Roxy, while Thomas and Eric also played LA coffeehouses as an acoustic duo. In just a few short but impressive months, Painting Emily developed a faithful following. However, Painting Emily's growing momentum was suddenly cut short when, for personal reasons, Eric moved from Los Angeles to war-torn Israel and left Thomas without a writing partner or a longtime bandmate. Never one to be derailed by such setbacks, Thomas took his act solo and returned to his coffeehouse roots, booking himself at venues such as Highland Grounds, Westwood Brewing Co. and Common Grounds. Since then, he has written many new songs, which succeed not only within the normal pop song structure but also in combining folk storytelling with pop and alternative sounds. With this invigorating new material in hand, Thomas turned to Jimmy Schultz at Lung Studios to co-produce a solo album. The result of this collaboration, Thomas' debut solo cd entitled "Another Night Somewhere Else", is due for release in late April 2002. Check out the artist's website: http://www.vecera.net Track List: 1. Undeniable 2. Golden 3. Mend 4. Last a Light Year 5. Hear Me 6. Lucy 7. You Don't Speak for Me 8. I Want That Moment 9. Life 10. Can I Listen? Suggested CDs:Other Genres:
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