Alexandria "Sandi" Thom () (born 11 August 1981) is a Scottish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from
Banff,
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
. She became widely known in 2006 after her debut single, "
I Wish I Was a Punk Rocker (With Flowers in My Hair)
"I Wish I Was a Punk Rocker (With Flowers in My Hair)" is the debut single of Scottish singer-songwriter Sandi Thom, released in October 2005. The song was written by Thom and Tom Gilbert. Following a re-release in 2006, the song topped the sing ...
", topped the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
in June of that year, as well as in Australia, Ireland, and her native Scotland. The single became the biggest-selling single of 2006 in Australia, where it spent ten weeks at the top of the
ARIA Singles Chart
The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...
.
Thom has released six studio albums throughout her career, ''
Smile... It Confuses People'' (2006), ''
The Pink & the Lily'' (2008), ''
Merchants and Thieves'' (2010), ''Flesh and Blood'' (2012), ''The Covers Collection'' (2013), and ''Ghosts'' (2019).
Early life
Thom was born in
Banff.
She attended
Robert Gordon's College
Robert Gordon's College is a co-educational Independent school (UK) for day pupils in Aberdeen, Scotland. The school caters for pupils from Nursery through to S6.
History
Robert Gordon, an Aberdeen merchant, made his fortune in 18th century ...
in
Aberdeen
Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...
. Thom spent three years playing piano and singing in a band from Gourdon in Aberdeenshire, called The Residents.
Thom became the youngest student ever to be accepted at the prestigious
Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts
The Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA) is a performing arts higher education institution in Liverpool, founded by Paul McCartney and Mark Featherstone-Witty and opened in 1996. LIPA offers 11 full-time BA (Hons) degrees in a range ...
(LIPA).
In 2003, Thom graduated from LIPA
with a BA in
Performing Arts
The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which are the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. Perform ...
.
Thom has assisted many charity appeals for
Oxfam
Oxfam is a British-founded confederation of 21 independent charitable organizations focusing on the alleviation of global poverty, founded in 1942 and led by Oxfam International.
History
Founded at 17 Broad Street, Oxford, as the Oxford Co ...
's work in
Malawi
Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast ...
and across east Africa.
Career
2004–07: Signing with Sony BMG and ''Smile... It Confuses People''
In 2004, Thom moved to London to pursue her songwriting career, working with three co-writers: Jake Field, Duncan Thompson and Tom Gilbert. Thom signed to Windswept Pacific Music in 2005, an independent music publishing company, and its UK arm, P&P Songs, and received £25,000. She signed a record contract with the record label Viking Legacy, where her mother was director, who released her début single, "I Wish I Was a Punk Rocker (With Flowers in My Hair)" in late 2005. The song failed to garner major airplay or sales and release of her début was delayed.
''21 Nights from Tooting'' was a "tour" consisting of 21 performances from the basement of her
Tooting
Tooting is a district in South London, forming part of the London Borough of Wandsworth and partly in the London Borough of Merton. It is located south south-west of Charing Cross.
History
Tooting has been settled since pre- Saxon times ...
flat, from 24 February to 16 March. These were recorded and then webcast by professional hosting company Streaming Tank. Tickets were sold, but the venue had a capacity of "six people" ("10 including the band"). The
MySpace post announcing the gigs was posted in the early hours of 22 February. Thom's website states that "the idea ... popped into her head" after her car broke down travelling from a gig in York (on the 22nd) to one in Wales (on the 23rd) and following the very first live webcast she did at a gig in Edinburgh organized by her PR manager, Paul Boyd from Polar Flame Music. Thom's first video webcast was at the Edinburgh Left Bank venue in October 2005.
Prompted by a contact from Thom's manager's Ian Brown and
John Black, news services noted Thom's promotion efforts. Her management and music PR team, Quite Great Communications and Polar Flame Music UK, claim to have conducted a large publicity campaign, including a million "virtual flyers" (unsolicited emails). In a story first published in March 2006, ''
The Sunday Times
''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...
'' ran a piece. This was quickly reported on by other news sources. It was claimed that the audience for the first day was around 60 or 70, before rising to 70,000. A
Reuters
Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world.
The agency was estab ...
story the same month mentioned that "I Wish I Was a Punk Rocker" was being re-released the following week, with the album following in April. The publicity surrounding the tour led to major label interest, with music label representatives attending the gigs in question, and the release of the records was put back until a deal was signed.
Craig Logan
Craig Logan (born 22 April 1969) is a Scottish musician, songwriter, and manager. He began his career as bassist in the pop band Bros.
Career
In early 1989, Logan left Bros to focus on songwriting and producing. Kim Appleby's song " Don't Wor ...
, the managing director of
RCA Records
RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...
UK, said that the label was "drawn to" Thom after hearing of the webcasting,
as has Thom herself. Thom subsequently accepted an offer by RCA, which led to the single re-release being delayed until May, when it was released via the major label. The news of this broke on 3 April 2006, the official signing itself being webcast. The single was placed on Music Week Daily's playlist that day.
Paul Kelly of ''The Independent'' and others have questioned how Thom was able to sustain production of the webcast, and its viewership figures, and noted that internet traffic monitors such as Alexa and Technorati show no unusual surge of interest in Thom until she began to be covered by mainstream media.
Following her online webcast concerts from her basement in
Tooting
Tooting is a district in South London, forming part of the London Borough of Wandsworth and partly in the London Borough of Merton. It is located south south-west of Charing Cross.
History
Tooting has been settled since pre- Saxon times ...
, and accompanied by increasing airplay exposure, "I Wish I Was a Punk Rocker" was re-released on 22 May 2006 by
RCA Records
RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...
UK and debuted at number 1 on the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
. Thom performed on ''
Top of the Pops
''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...
'', making her major terrestrial television début, and in June the song reached number one on the singles chart. The song was later nominated at the
Brit Awards
The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...
for Best British Single. In the
Republic of Ireland
Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...
, "I Wish I Was a Punk Rocker" also reached number one, and in Australia, it was number one for ten consecutive weeks, becoming Australia's highest selling single of 2006. Thom's début album, ''
Smile... It Confuses People'' was released in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
the same month and débuted at number one on the
UK Albums Chart
The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...
, eventually selling over one million copies worldwide. The follow-up single "
What If I'm Right" reached the lower reaches of the charts, but "Lonely Girl", the third single from the album, failed to enter any charts.
2007–09: ''The Pink & the Lily'' and ''The Best of Sandi Thom''
![Sandi2008Live](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/35/Sandi2008Live.jpg)
In May 2008, Thom released her second album, ''
The Pink & the Lily'', preceded by the first single, "
The Devil's Beat
"The Devil's Beat" is a Folk-pop song taken from Sandi Thom's second album, ''The Pink & The Lily''. It was the first single taken from the album and marked Thom's return after almost two years. Despite some promotion on TV and heavy rotation on BB ...
". Before the release, journalists were doubtful about its appeal. The album and single received extensive airplay on
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...
. In the UK, the album entered the chart at 25 for one week before dropping out of the top 100. Thom said:
I feel like my second album was too rushed. I felt under quite a lot of pressure when I was making it. I was out on the road and my label was really hassling me to get it finished. I admit I was disappointed with it and now, when I look back, it was released too soon. There were some things that were overlooked. It wasn't thought out properly. So, with my next album, I'm going to put my foot down and spend as long as it takes to make it.
In February 2009, Thom told the press that she would be making her third album as an independent artist after it had been announced that RCA had dropped her from their label without her prior knowledge and who she then claimed pressured her during the making of her second album.
A compilation album, ''The Best of Sandi Thom'', was released in July 2009 to fulfil contractual obligations without Thom's consent by the Sony BMG label Camden. The 18 track collection was compiled from Thom's two previous albums and various B-sides.
2010–2012: ''Merchants and Thieves'' and ''Flesh and Blood''
![Sandi Thom 4686](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/13/Sandi_Thom_4686.Jpeg)
Thom's third studio album, ''
Merchants and Thieves'', was released independently in May 2010 with "This Ol' World" (featuring guitarist and then-boyfriend
Joe Bonamassa
Joseph Leonard Bonamassa ( ; born May 8, 1977) is an American blues rock guitarist, singer and songwriter. He started his career at age twelve, when he opened for B.B. King. Since 2000, Bonamassa has released fifteen solo albums through his inde ...
) as the lead single. The album was released by Thom on her own label Guardian Angels, which she formed after her split with RCA. Musically it moves from pop folk towards blues and roots influences. Thom's cover version of the track "
House of the Rising Sun
A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...
" was released as a download-only single and extra track on the deluxe edition of the album. It was also given away as a free download to readers of the ''Scottish Mail'' newspaper. ''Merchants and Thieves'' was nominated for Best Album at the
British Blues Awards The British Blues Awards were inaugurated in 2010. The prize was awarded in various categories, such as 'Male vocals', 'Female vocals', 'Guitarist', 'Bass player' and 'Keyboard player', 'Blues band', 'Young artist', 'Blues album', 'Blues festival' a ...
2011, and for Best Jazz/Blues Recording of the Year at the Scottish Music Awards. Thom was also nominated for Artist of the Year and her label Guardian Angel Recordings was nominated for Record Label of the Year.
Thom's fourth studio album, ''Flesh and Blood'', was released in September 2012. The album was recorded in Nashville's 16 Ton Studios and features
The Black Crowes
The Black Crowes are an American rock band formed in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1984. Their discography includes eight studio albums, four live albums and several charting singles. The band was signed to Def American Recordings in 1989 by producer Geo ...
guitarist
Rich Robinson
Richard Spencer Robinson (born May 24, 1969) is an American musician and founding member of the rock and roll band the Black Crowes. Along with older brother Chris Robinson, Rich formed the band in 1984 (originally called ''Mr. Crowes Garden'' ...
as guest producer, and other musicians such as
Audley Freed and
Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...
saxophonist
Bobby Keys
Robert Henry Keys (December 18, 1943 – December 2, 2014) was an American saxophonist who performed with other musicians as a member of several horn sections of the 1970s. He appears on albums by the Rolling Stones, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Harry Ni ...
. Thom then released her first live concert DVD, which featured a guest performance from former boyfriend Joe Bonamassa.
2013–2014: ''The Covers Collection''
Her fifth studio album, ''The Covers Collection'', was released in November 2013 and was publicised as an acoustic collection of songs that Thom listened to as a teenager, including
Nirvana
( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...
,
Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1985. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band comprised vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKa ...
,
Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. The band's lineup consists of founding members Jeff Ament (bass guitar), Stone Gossard (rhythm guitar), Mike McCready (lead guitar), and Eddie Vedder (lead vocals, guita ...
,
Heart
The heart is a muscular organ in most animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body, while carrying metabolic waste such as carbon dioxide t ...
, and
Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac are a British-American rock band, formed in London in 1967. Fleetwood Mac were founded by guitarist Peter Green, drummer Mick Fleetwood and guitarist Jeremy Spencer, before bassist John McVie joined the line-up for their epony ...
. Thom played all instruments on the record and produced the album, which failed to chart.
2015–2019: "Earthquake" controversy
In 2015, it was reported that Thom had signed to the independent label MITA Records for the release of her sixth studio album. Later that year, she attracted publicity after uploading a video to her Facebook page in which she criticised
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...
and
Bauer Media Group
Heinrich Bauer Publishing (german: Heinrich Bauer Verlag KG), trading as Bauer Media Group, is a German multimedia conglomerate headquartered in Hamburg. It operates worldwide and owns more than 600 magazines, over 400 digital products and 50 ra ...
's radio stations for not playlisting her single "Earthquake". She said in the video, "Honest to God I'm fucking sick to death of the bullshit this industry pulls on people like me and I've had it. Enough I'm done. Fuck you Radio 2. Fuck you Bauer network and fuck the lot of you. There is no reason why you need to do this to me once again". The video was deleted shortly after attracting comment. In a subsequent interview, she accused the BBC of a bias against Scottish recording artists. Despite these comments, "Earthquake" was playlisted by many regional BBC stations and BBC Radio Scotland. In the event, MITA Records did not release Thom's album. Thom self-released the charity single "Tightrope" in March 2017 through The Famous Company, and said in an interview that no release date had been set for her next album, but she hoped it would be out by the end of 2017; however this did not eventuate.
In February 2018, Thom stated "There is no money in releasing albums any longer unless you have a bottomless pit of funding" and that "The only way to make a living through music would be through volume of output" and she would forthwith write a song a week and release it in the most basic form on the digital platform.
2019–present: ''Ghosts''
Thom released the album ''Ghosts'' in 2019.
Concert tours
Nationwide tours
![Sandi Thom 4722B](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/73/Sandi_Thom_4722B.jpeg)
Before the 21 Nights from Tooting, Thom had been actively touring in the UK in 2005. Thom made an appearance at the Northsound Radio to 40,000 Free at the Dee festival in Aberdeen on 4 September 2005; a charity gig in
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
later in September 2005, and was described as "tipped" by the ''Daily Record''. Thom supported
The Proclaimers
''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...
on their UK tour in December 2005 and toured with
Nizlopi
Nizlopi were an English folk and alternative duo formed in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, by Luke Concannon on vocals, guitar, and bodhrán, and John Parker on double bass, human beatbox, and backing vocals.
History Formation
The duo grew up i ...
. She and her band continued to tour, playing the Pocklington Arts Centre near
York
York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
on 22 February 2006, supported by
Edwina Hayes
Edwina Hayes (born 6 June 1973, in Dublin, Ireland) is an Irish born English singer-songwriter. She grew up in Preston, Lancashire before moving to the East Riding of Yorkshire where she gained her first musical experiences playing at local folk ...
, and the
Queen's Hall
The Queen's Hall was a concert hall in Langham Place, London, opened in 1893. Designed by the architect Thomas Knightley, it had room for an audience of about 2,500 people. It became London's principal concert venue. From 1895 until 1941, it ...
in
Narberth in
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
on 23 February 2006.
In 2008, Thom was invited by
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...
's
Pete Townshend
Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend (; born 19 May 1945) is an English musician. He is co-founder, leader, guitarist, second lead vocalist and principal songwriter of the Who, one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s and 1970s.
Townsh ...
to perform for the
Teenage Cancer Trust
Teenage Cancer Trust is a cancer care and support charity in the UK that exists to improve the cancer experience of young people aged 13–24. Founded in 1990, the charity's key service is providing specialist teenage units in NHS hospitals. It ...
at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
Thom performed two more times at the Royal Albert Hall: at the Sunflower Jam alongside
Queen
Queen or QUEEN may refer to:
Monarchy
* Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom
** List of queens regnant
* Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king
* Queen dowager, the widow of a king
* Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...
's
Brian May
Brian Harold May (born 19 July 1947) is an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and astrophysicist, who achieved worldwide fame as the lead guitarist of the rock band Queen (band), Queen. May was a co-founder of Queen with lead singer Fredd ...
,
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...
's
John Paul Jones (musician)
John Richard Baldwin (born 3 January 1946), better known by his stage name John Paul Jones, is an English musician, composer and record producer who was the bassist and keyboardist for the rock band Led Zeppelin. Prior to forming the band with ...
, and
Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier, February 4, 1948) is an American rock singer whose career spans over five decades. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusions, including pyrotechnics, guillot ...
.
Thom has played live in several unconventional venues. She had previously performed at the opening of the World Skiing Championships in Sweden, where the stage was set up at the top of a mountain range; she performed at the top of the BT tower in London on behalf of the DMA's (Digital Music Awards), where she was nominated; she also performed for a
Children in Need auction winner who paid the charity £17,000 for Thom to play her living room. She played the Main Stage at
T in the Park
T in the Park festival was a major Scottish music festival that was held annually from 1994 to 2016. It was named after its main sponsor, Tennents. The event was held at Strathclyde Park, Lanarkshire, until 1996. It then moved to the disused ...
2006, having previously been booked for the lowest billed stage. She headlined the acoustic tent at the 2006
V Festival with
Kasabian
Kasabian ( ) are an English rock band formed in Leicester in 1997 by lead vocalist Tom Meighan, guitarist and occasional vocalist Sergio Pizzorno, guitarist Chris Karloff, and bassist Chris Edwards. Drummer Ian Matthews joined in 2004. Karlof ...
. In early 2007, Thom spent 6 weeks in France performing in every city across the country alongside a French artist at a free concert called the Ricard Live Tour to crowds of approximately 35,000 a night. She has performed at festivals such as
Glastonbury
Glastonbury (, ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbury ...
, Guilfest and Redbourne; and in Scotland, the Wizard festival and the Belladrum Heart festival. Other festivals further afield included the Oxegen music festival and the World Fleadh in Ireland, and the Fuji Rock Festival in Japan. Thom supported
George Michael
George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the most significant cultural icons of the MTV generation and is one of the best-selling musici ...
on his stadium tour in Denmark in 2008. The same year, she performed a free 50-minute acoustic gig in front of 200 people at the broadcast centre of WDR radio station in Cologne, Germany; the gig was broadcast twice during the course of the month. Thom performed at the
Blackpool Illuminations
Blackpool Illuminations is an annual lights festival, founded in 1879 and first switched on 18 September that year, held each autumn in the British seaside resort of Blackpool on the Fylde Coast in Lancashire.
Also known locally as The Lights ...
Christmas lights switch-on concert alongside presenters of the TV series ''
Top Gear
Top Gear may refer to:
* "Top gear", the highest gear available in a vehicle's manual transmission
Television
* ''Top Gear'' (1977 TV series), a British motoring magazine programme
* ''Top Gear'' (2002 TV series), a relaunched version of the or ...
'' presenters, who were taking part in a race to beat one another to Blackpool.
Hogmanay celebrations
On New Year's Eve 2008, Thom headlined the stage at the Aberdeen's
Hogmanay
Hogmanay ( , ) is the Scots word for the last day of the old year and is synonymous with the celebration of the New Year in the Scottish manner. It is normally followed by further celebration on the morning of New Year's Day (1 January) or i ...
celebrations followed by an appearance on the BBC Hogmanay show from Edinburgh where she sang one song. Thom was transferred by citation jet from Aberdeen's Hogmanay street party to Edinburgh's Castle to make both performances possible that night. Thom has also performed "By Afton Water" at the official Burns Supper in celebration of
Robert Burns
Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who hav ...
's 250th birthday in front of Scotland's First Minister. The event was held in Alloway, Ayrshire, where Burns was born. Thom then went on to perform in the Library of Congress alongside Sir Sean Connery and a host of Scottish congress members in January 2009.
''Homecoming Scotland 2009''
Thom dedicated her tour of 2009 to the
Homecoming Scotland
Homecoming Scotland 2009 was a series of events designed to attract people of Scottish ancestry to visit Scotland. The campaign, organised by EventScotland and VisitScotland on behalf of the Scottish Government, and part-financed by the E ...
campaign. The support acts for each show were local artists with special guests ranging from
Phil Cunningham in
Inverness
Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histori ...
,
Leon Jackson
Leon Jackson (born 30 December 1988) is a Scottish singer. He won the fourth series of British talent show ''The X Factor'' in 2007. Following his win, Jackson was the main star of his on-web series entitled ''Leon's Life'', which ran from 20 ...
at the
Clyde Auditorium
The SEC Armadillo (originally known as the Clyde Auditorium) is an auditorium located near the River Clyde, in Glasgow, Scotland. It is one of three venues on the Scottish Event Campus, which includes the SEC Centre and the OVO Hydro. in
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
and her original guitarist
Marcus Bonfanti
Marcus Bonfanti is a British blues singer, songwriter and guitarist. He has released three albums and one EP, and works both as a solo musician and, since 2014, as the frontman for the British blues rock group Ten Years After. His most recent ...
appearing at the final show of the English leg of the tour in
Milton Keynes
Milton Keynes ( ) is a city and the largest settlement in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of its urban area was over . The River Great Ouse forms its northern boundary; a tributary ...
. A duet with the first minister of Scotland,
Alex Salmond
Alexander Elliot Anderson Salmond (; born 31 December 1954) is a Scottish politician and economist who served as First Minister of Scotland from 2007 to 2014. A prominent figure on the Scottish nationalist movement, he has served as leader ...
, took place at one of the shows in Banff where he is the
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
, Thom has widely made her political views known and is an avid supporter of
Scottish independence
Scottish independence ( gd, Neo-eisimeileachd na h-Alba; sco, Scots unthirldom) is the idea of Scotland as a sovereign state, independent from the United Kingdom, and refers to the political movement that is campaigning to bring it about.
S ...
.
During the tour Thom released two EPs: a "Live EP" featuring recordings from the Aberdeen Castlegait Hogmanay celebrations and the "Caledonia EP" featuring a series of covers including "Patience of Angels" (originally by
Eddi Reader
Sadenia "Eddi" Reader MBE (born 29 August 1959) is a Scottish singer-songwriter, known for her work as frontwoman of Fairground Attraction and for an enduring solo career. She is the recipient of three BRIT Awards. In 2003, she showcased the wo ...
) and the official Homecoming Scotland 2009 song "Caledonia" (written by
Dougie MacLean
Dougie MacLean, OBE (born 27 September 1954) is a Scottish singer-songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. Described by AllMusic as "one of Scotland's premier singer-songwriters", MacLean has performed both under his ow ...
). These recordings were only available to purchase at concerts performed on the Homecoming Tour.
Further touring
Thom appeared at the
SXSW
South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Te ...
festival in Texas in March 2009. In April, a sold-out performance took place at the 200 capacity Crown Hotel Ballroom as part of the Nantwich Jazz Festival. Thom was invited to play a filmed set at Switzerlands
Avo Session Basel
Baloise Session (previously known as the Rheinknie Session and AVO SESSION Basel) is an indoor music festival, which takes place every October/November in Basel, Switzerland. The festival features international as well as national artists of dive ...
, supporting
Snow Patrol
Snow Patrol are a Northern Irish–Scottish Rock music, rock band formed in 1994 in Dundee, Scotland. They consist of Gary Lightbody (vocals, guitar), Nathan Connolly (guitar, backing vocals), Paul Wilson (musician), Paul Wilson (bass guitar, ...
. This was followed by an extensive support slot for Joe Bonamassa on his UK and Irish tour dates.
Thom appeared at the
Stirling Castle
Stirling Castle, located in Stirling, is one of the largest and most important castles in Scotland, both historically and architecturally. The castle sits atop Castle Hill, an intrusive crag, which forms part of the Stirling Sill geological ...
Hogmanay celebrations 2009. She performed alongside
The MacDonald Brothers
The MacDonald Brothers, now performing as The Macs, are a Scottish pop folk duo from Ayr, South Ayrshire, Scotland, consisting of brothers Brian and Craig MacDonald. They first rose to prominence in the third UK series of television talent s ...
,
The Shermans and
Gary Mullen. Thom toured the UK in April and May 2010 to showcase new material from her album ''Merchants and Thieves'' and made a number of appearances at Festivals in the UK including The Tiree festival in Scotland and The Great British Rhythm & Blues Festival in Colne Lancashire in England. A second ''Merchants and Thieves'' tour took place in September and early October. Thom announced a tour of "intimate" venues in the UK for early 2011 as well as details of a record to be recorded in Nashville in 2011. Festival appearances, including
Rhythm Festival
The Rhythm Festival was an outdoor music festival held in Bedfordshire. From 2006 until 2010 it was held at Twinwood Arena, near the village of Clapham In 2011 the festival moved to Shuttleworth House, Biggleswade. The 2012 Festival was due to ...
,
were also added for 2011.
In 2012, Thom returned to Australia to perform a series of concerts alongside blues singer/harmonica player Chris Wilson. Performances included Melbourne's Recital Centre. Following the release of ''Flesh and Blood'', Thom performed an exclusive set at London's Gibson showroom and was the first artist to play the brand new 12 string Les Paul. She also made several guest appearances with
Joe Bonamassa
Joseph Leonard Bonamassa ( ; born May 8, 1977) is an American blues rock guitarist, singer and songwriter. He started his career at age twelve, when he opened for B.B. King. Since 2000, Bonamassa has released fifteen solo albums through his inde ...
including the Usher Hall in Edinburgh. She had performed with him some years earlier at a Blues Festival in Nice, France providing lead vocals throughout, when Bonamassa was forced to rest his voice. In 2013 Thom performed a series of concerts all over the world including Australia, UK, Holland and ending in Scandinavia late December 2013. She changed her live show and went out as a solo act simultaneously playing 12 string guitar, stomp box, vocals and harmonica.
Royal Albert Hall
In April 2014, Thom made a guest performance at the Royal Albert Hall, She also performed a series of US concerts including Chicago, Nashville, NYC's BB Kings Blues club, Charlotte, LA and Portland, ME. Thom booked and promoted all the shows herself. In late 2014, Thom undertook a six-week tour of Australia and for the first time performed a series of concerts in New Zealand, mainly in the South Island. Thom performed at the Narooma Blues Festival in Australia in 2014, and then went on to perform a four-week tour of the UK.
Thom Announced in August 2018 that she was taking up a Friday night Residency for the foreseeable future in the Privee Jazz Lounge Bar at the Domain Hotel Bahrain.
Discography
Studio albums
* ''
Smile... It Confuses People'' (2006)
* ''
The Pink & the Lily'' (2008)
* ''
Merchants and Thieves'' (2010)
* ''Flesh and Blood'' (2012)
* ''The Covers Collection'' (2013)
* ''Ghosts'' (2019)
Compilation albums
* ''The Best of Sandi Thom'' (2009)
References
External links
*
*
*
Thom Exclusive InterviewMITA Records
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thom, Sandi
1981 births
Alumni of the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts
Living people
People from Banff, Aberdeenshire
People educated at Robert Gordon's College
21st-century Scottish women singers
Scottish singer-songwriters
Scottish pop singers
Scottish women guitarists
Scottish songwriters
21st-century British guitarists
21st-century women guitarists