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(Aug 21, 2004)
(Unsigned)
The Thomas Hoffmaster page
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Just Thomas consists of four songs written and performed by Thomas Hoffmaster (just him.) He tells a bit about his life story on his website, and it's a story of a divorced father putting his life back together and reaching out to love again. Being a divorced father myself, I feel a kind of kindred spirit with him, but if I start giving away higher ratings to people with whom I feel a kindred spirit, the website will begin to attract submissions from all sorts of undesirables who perceive me, rightly or wrongly, as long lost kin. So, the rating stands.
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Having said that, Just Thomas shows a fair amount of talent and potential. It would deserve a higher rating but for its unevenness, specifically on the third and fourth songs. But let's begin with the positives. The first song, "Freedom", is quite beautiful. Thomas' voice and guitar playing on this song remind me of Gordon Lightfoot. The tempo is too deliberate - "Andante" where "Maestoso" might have fared better - but other than that, it's crafted very carefully down to each single guitar note. "Freedom" might be worth the price of the CD if you like it as much as I did. The second song, "Patience," drops off slightly in quality, but is still good. Once again he sounds like Gordon, although the headrush from that initial discovery has worn off by now.
The third and fourth songs could be greatly improved with the materials Thomas currently has at his disposal. The third song, "It's Your Time," is sung noticeably off-key, and I think it's because he's gone up about an octave in pitch and well into the Alto range, and he just can't hit or sustain the notes up here. Why not transpose this song to a key 4 or 5 notes lower and try it again? We're not talking about a little off-key here and there. We're talking about a grating, warbling sound that makes it difficult to even finish listening to the song. It doesn't belong in the same group with the first two songs, and Thomas should just leave it at a 2-track CD until he gets the kinks out.
Overall, a promising talent, but needs some handling and honest critique from a music coach. On the bright side, the less money us divorced fathers earn, the less there is for our ex-wives to extort, so everything balances out in the end. By the way, if my son Little Lou is reading this, "The divorce wasn't your fault!"
You can hear and buy the CD
here.
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