Mandolin Master Class
July 22, 2009
Jason Thomas’s musical roots first took hold at age eight, when he began playing with his family band in southern Ontario. It was then that his dad taught him to play bluegrass mandolin. At twelve his interest in fiddle and set him on a path of research and self-instruction. The result has been mastery of a wide variety of fiddle styles including Bluegrass, Celtic, Country, Gypsy Jazz, Cajun, Western Swing and the French Canadian style that is so much a part of his own musical heritage.
Since his studies in violin and Music Education at Evangel College in Springfield, MO, Jason has been a full-time professional musician, having toured extensively across the U.S. and overseas. Jason is in high demand around his residence in Orlando, Florida as a side musician in almost every musical genre.
He has toured and recorded three projects with the Montana-based band Kane’s River, which charted two singles on Bluegrass Unlimited’s National Bluegrass Survey, recorded with IBMA nominee Mark Johnson along with Tony Rice and the Rice Brothers, and with Ben Winship and David Thompson on the highly-proclaimed “Fishing Music” projects.
In April of 2006, after having been a long-time Front Porch String Band fan, Jason joined the Claire Lynch Band. He appeared on four freshly-recorded tracks from Claire’s anthology cd, “Crowd Favorites” in 2007 and is a primary player on Claire’s newest release “Whatcha Gonna Do” contributing on mandolin, fiddles and harmony vocals.