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Intersections Earl Thomas Gospel Promo 1000x600 2
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Recurring Event Event Series: Intersections Concerts

Intersections Concert Series: Earl Thomas and the Gospel Ambassadors featuring Sister Leola

April 7, 2024 @ 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm

$25 – $35
About this event

Don’t miss Earl Thomas and the Gospel Ambassadors!

Performing in the Guggenheim Theatre at Park & Market

Earl Thomas’ latest production, after a three-year hiatus, is all vintage gospel or what the singer says is “The music I was meant to do.” His mother always said that he was a gospel singer and now he is finally performing songs that have been, for decades, the soundtrack of African American culture and history and the backbone of the blues. Earl says: “These songs stand for our struggle, our pain, our strength, our hope, our perseverance, our triumph, and our joy.”

As a self-professed griot, Earl Thomas maintains the African tradition of oral history through music. As a singer songwriter, his music – deeply rooted in the blues and gospel – is infused with contemporary sensibilities of rock, soul, and rhythm & blues. And, as a purveyor of African American tradition and culture, his is a potent mix of the traditional and contemporary, expressed in an impressive music catalogue and a vibrant 30 year career in music. With all that he has accomplished, it’s ironic that Earl Thomas stumbled into the music industry by accident.

He was born into a musical family in rural Tennessee and grew up in a house brimming with music; his father was a bluesman and his mother was a gospel singer so music is in his veins.

“With his dynamic band and stunning backing vocalists, Earl Thomas brings a tent revival on stage! A high spirit, roof raising, foot stomping, hand clapping, get up and dance in the aisles gospel show that cannot be ignored,” says London’s Time Out.

For a college practical exam, Earl Thomas and his friend, Philip Wootton, made an LP, following the instructions in a book called ‘How To Make And Sell Your Own Recording.’ Complying with the step-by-step process, Thomas and Wootton wrote songs, hired musicians, booked a studio and produced an album for their exam. The result was a record called ‘I Sing The Blues,’ and the only dream Thomas and Wootton had for the LP were to receive a good grade. And that they did. But instead of stopping at Chapter 8 in the book, the duo followed the instruction in Chapter 9 and mailed copies of the album to radio stations, magazines, and newspapers. One landed on the desk of pop music writer Buddy Seagal at the San Diego Union Tribune and, impressed by what he heard, Buddy sent a copy to Herb Cohen, the president of Bizarre-Straight Records.

Sunday, April, 7
5:00-7:00 p.m.

The Guggenheim Theatre
Park & Market
1100 Market St.
San Diego

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Details

Date:
April 7, 2024
Time:
5:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Cost:
$25 – $35
Series:
Event Category:
Purchase Tickets

Organizer

Park & Market
Phone:
858-534-1010
Email:
pandmevents@ucsd.edu
View Organizer Website

Location

UC San Diego Park & Market
1100 Market St.
San Diego, CA 92101 United States
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Phone:
858-534-1010
View Location Website