Rosie Thomas
Sub Pop Records
Rosie Thomas has a split personality when it comes to entertaining. Some know her as a ribald comedienne, notorious for her routine as a befuddled pizza delivery driver in a neck brace and outlandish glasses, while others know her as a sensitive singer-songwriter with a particular talent for painting gorgeously detailed portraits of everyday life's littler moments. That Thomas is able to lead this unique double life is indicative of the broad range of abilities that makes her so good at both.
It probably helped that Thomas grew up in a musical family, to performing parents in Detroit. In her 20s, after a brief spell in a Detroit band called Velour 100, she relocated to Seattle and landed a stand-up gig (at Giggles comedy club) as well as meeting the acclaimed local songwriter Damien Jurado, whose 2000 album Ghost of David she appeared on. The two of them dueted again on the 2001 Sub Pop's Bruce Springsteen tribute Badlands.
One year later, Thomas showed the world what she was made of, musically, with her intimate and pensive debut album, When We Were Small. Thomas aligns herself with the early '70s work of Joni Mitchell with sparse arrangements dominated by piano and acoustic guitar, perhaps some cello or glockenspiel, which serve to highlight the small yet profound stories she tells in an aching, keening soprano which often dissolves into a tenuous falsetto. Thomas's songs are like a dash of cold water on a hot still day, bracing in their specificity and depth of feeling.
Jesse Ashlock
last updated:
07/23/02
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