KAMARA THOMAS

KAMARA THOMAS - Singer, Songspeller, Multidisciplinary Storyteller, Teaching Artist

Education
1996 College of William and Mary. Bachelor of Arts, Theatre and Speech. Williamsburg, VA.

Film / Video / Virtual
2022 Last Ride to Las Cruces - Director, Producer, Performer. Multidisciplinary music Video. Durham, NC.
2021 Aquarian Devils - Director, Producer, Performer. Music Video. Durham, NC.
2019— Country Soul Songbook Summit - Organizer. Virtual festival - 4 days, 35 hours of content, 300 international viewers.
2018 Good Luck America - Director, producer, writer, performer. Multidisciplinary music video. Durham, NC.
2016 Oh Gallows - Director, producer, writer, performer. Multidisciplinary music video. Durham, NC.
2020— Film Festivals: Good Luck America - Hayti Heritage Film Festival (2020). Aquarian Devils - Cucalorus FF, Wilmington, NC (2021); Charlotte Black FF, Charlotte, NC (2022); International Black & Diversity FF, Toronto, Canada (2022).

Multidisciplinary
2006— Tularosa: An American Dreamtime. Composer, writer, producer. Full-length album (2022) and multidisciplinary storywork in development.
2019— Country Soul Songbook - Creative Director. Community platform and production company spotlighting underrepresented voices in Country and Americana music. Durham, NC.2018—
2005— Kamara Thomas Music— groups: Aquarian Devils, Kamara Thomas & The Night Drivers, Ghost Gamblers, Larune.
2005— Bulgaria. Director, composer, performer. Musical storytelling/performance project. New York, NY and Durham, NC.
2020 #9 - a pandemic performance for nine surveilled social distancers. Shadowbox Studios. Durham, NC
2020 Pay Black Artists. Mural. Presented by North Star Church of the Arts and Art Ain’t Innocent. Durham, NC.
2018 Songspell. Musical storytelling performance. North Star Church of the Arts. Durham, NC.
2018 Soapbox. Director, producer, writer, performer. Public space performance, downtown Durham, NC.
2018 Fire Girls. Actor. Film by Chell Stephens. Toronto, Canada.
2005— Kamara Thomas Music— groups: Aquarian Devils, Kamara Thomas & The Night Drivers, Ghost Gamblers, Larune.
2016 Birthing Bodies. Composer, facilitator. Experimental vocal techniques. Murmurations Dance Company. Saxapahaw, NC.
2002-12 Earl Greyhound. Singer, songwriter, bassist. Rock trio. NYC.
2005-08 Honky Tonk Happy Hour. Founder, host, music director. Americana/Country/Roots music revue. The Living Room. NYC.
2008-11 The Periodic Label / Freedom Festival. Co-founder. Multidisciplinary arts collective. NYC.

Grants / Awards
2022 MAP Fund.Tularosa.
2021 Artist Support Grant. Durham Arts Council. Tularosa.
2021 Durham Arts Catalyst Grant. Durham Arts Council. Country Soul Songbook.
2021 Arnold Shultz Grant. International Bluegrass Music Association. Country Soul Songbook.
2020 Whippoorwill Arts Award. Whippoorwill Arts. Americana artist songwriting grant.
2020 NC CARES for Arts Grant. North Carolina Arts Council. Country Soul Songbook.
2019 Filmed in NC Fund Grant. Cucalorus Film Festival. Country Soul Songbook.
2019 Durham 150 Grant. Durham, NC. Country Soul Songbook.
2018 Public Space Project Grant. Downtown Durham, Inc. Durham, NC. Soapbox.
2018 Awesome Foundation. Raleigh, NC. Soapbox.

Guest Artist / University Experience
2022 - 24 Princeton Arts Fellowship. Princeton University. Princeton, NJ.
2022 Deep Roots, Many Voices. Blue Ridge Music Center. Symposium Panelist.
2021 Festival Rituals and The Best Interview. Folk Alliance International. Folk Unlocked Festival. Panelist.
2020 Beyond Representation: Community Leadership For Black Equity In Americana. Thriving Roots Music Festival. Panelist.
2020 Black Equity in Americana. Americana Music Association. Panelist.
2016 Nasher Museum of Art. Reflections, Alzheimer’s Program. Guest Artist. Durham, NC.
2016 Duke University. Art at the Edge of Tradition. Thompson Writing Program. Guest Artist. Durham, NC.
2013 Lincoln Center Institute. Blink Your Eyes: Sekou Sendiata Revisited. Panelist. New York, NY.
2012 Soho 20 Gallery. Conversations: Goddess on Earth. Lecture and dialogue. Panelist. New York, NY.
2009 Indiana University. Reclaiming the Right to Rock: Black Experiences in Rock Music. Panelist. Bloomington, IN.
2009 Princeton University. Black Rock and Cultural Revolt. Guest Artist. Princeton, NJ.

Residencies / Commissions
2022 Santa Fe Art Institute. Residency. Development of Tularosa storywork with Band of Toughs theatre company.
2021 Love is a Long Road. Essay commission. No Depression: The Journal of Roots Music. Spring 2021 issue.
2019 Endurance. Poem commission. Southbound: Photographs of and about the New South - Call and Response Series. Duke University, Durham, NC.
2018 To A Soth Photo. Song commission. “Ekphrasis, artists responding to photography”. Cassilhaus. Chapel Hill, NC.
2015 Lincoln Center Education. Residency. Collaborated with arts educators in NYC Public Schools to build middle- and high-school curriculum using original work Tularosa. NYC.
2009 Yaddo. Residency. Composing storytelling works Tularosa and Bulgaria. Saratoga Springs, NY.

Teaching Artist
2022 Princeton University. Songs and Songwriting; Songwriting and Musical Storytelling
2017— Durham Arts Council. Durham, NC. Creative Arts Fellow. Project-based arts educator in Durham Public Schools.
2021 School for Creative Studies, Durham, NC. Songwriting workshop, high school.
2020 Club Boulevard Elementary, Durham, NC. Songwriting Workshop, 4th grade.
2019 Pearsontown Elementary, Durham, NC. Interactive Performance, 1st and 2nd grades.
2019 Brogden Middle School, Durham, NC. Songwriting workshop, 7th and 8th grades.
2018 Mattamuskeet Elementary School. Swan Quarter, NC. Residency. Elementary choral workshops/public performance.
2018-20 Lerner School, Durham, NC. Music Teacher for pre-K through 5th grade.
2016— Kamara Thomas Music, Inc. Durham, NC. Private vocal and songwriting instruction.
2017 Durham Central Park, Inc. Durham, NC. Songwriting and guitar workshops for teen girls.
2016-17 Durham Parks and Recreation. Durham, NC. Director of elementary chorus; Special-needs music instructor.
2015 Lincoln Center Education, New York, NY. Residency. Collaborated with arts educators in NYC Public Schools to build middle- and high-school curriculum around the songwriting and performance of original work Tularosa.
2014-15 Lincoln Center Education, New York, NY. Summer Forum. Performance of original work Tularosa to arts educators.

Training / Professional Development
2018 Mariana Sadovska - Polyphonic Vocal Technique. Workshop. Archipelago Theatre Company, Chapel Hill, NC.
2018 Responsive Classroom, Special Area Teachers (Music). Certificate of Completion, six hours. Chapel Hill, NC.

Discography
2022 Tularosa: An American Dreamtime. Album.
2021 Aquarian Devils. Single. Aquarian Devils.
2020 Folklore. Live EP featuring the single “To A Soth Photo, 7”. Kamara Thomas.
2016 Live from The Listening Room at Mercury Studio. Live EP. Kamara Thomas.
2013 Earth Hero. Album. Kamara Thomas & The Ghost Gamblers.
2010 Suspicious Package. Album. Earl Greyhound.
2010 Ancient Futures. EP. Earl Greyhound.
2010 Live from Calhoun School. Live EP. Earl Greyhound.
2009 Ghost Stories, Volume 1. EP. Kamara Thomas & The Ghost Gamblers.
2008 Postcards from Bulgaria. Demo EP. Kamara Thomas
2007 Echo Sessions. Live EP. Larune.
2006 Soft Targets. Album. Earl Greyhound.
2005 Thunderbird. EP. Thunderbird.
2004 Earl Greyhound. EP. Earl Greyhound.

Bibliography
2019 Indyweek. Music feature. “She spearheads Country Soul Songbook, a love letter to both her community and the genre on which she was raised.” Durham, NC.
2018 Durham Magazine. Cover, feature. “"Hitting the High Notes” Band, singer-songwriters and venues that are shaking up our music scene.” Durham, NC.
2017 Paste Magazine. Online feature. “14 Artists Proving Black Americana is Real” Durham, NC.
2016 Durham Magazine. Annual women’s issue, feature. “As a singer/songwriter/sometimes playwright, (she) has found her place here.” Durham, NC.
2013 Indyweek. Music feature. “Former Brooklyn rocker pursues a singer-songwriter future in Durham”. Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill, NC.
2013 News & Observer. Music feature. “Kamara Thomas’ creativity flows in Durham”. Raleigh, NC.
2013 Brooklyn Academy of Music. Promotional review. “…spins hazy narrative paeans to America’s epic landscape and mythic past.” Brooklyn, NY.
2013 afropunk.com. EP review. “Breathtaking songs that stretch atmosphere and song-form past the breaking point.” Brooklyn, NY.
2013 Creative Loafing. EP review. “Thomas is a terrific singer/songwriter in her own right… spare, expansive, intimate and cinematic— and hauntingly nostalgic.” Charlotte, NC.
2008 New York Times Magazine. Earl Greyhound photo feature. New York, NY.
2007 pitchfork.com. Earl Greyhound album review.
2006 SPIN. Earl Greyhound album review.
2006 Rolling Stone. Earl Greyhound album review.
2006 The New Yorker. Earl Greyhound feature and album review.