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A professional musician for more
than 20 years, Thad Beckman has paid his dues on these same dusty roads which run from
California to New Jersey and points in between. His finely-crafted original songs are the
story of life, the voice of modern America...from the growling delta blues of the Deep
South to evocative contemporary folk...bound by the common thread of experience gleaned
from the road . You can hear it in his voice....he's been there.
From an admittedly non-musical family, Thad started
out as a teenager playing in Portland, Oregon high school bands, joined the Air Force
during Vietnam and ended up studying classical guitar in Florida. One day the blues got a
hold of him and have yet to let go. Muddy Waters, Robert
Johnson, Mississippi John Hurt, Gatemouth Brown, Buddy Guy, T - Bone Walker, Freddie King and Albert King have all left their mark on Thad's early development as a guitarist. You
can feel it in his
playing. His soulful "...guitar is exquisite,
which should come as no surprise to anyone who's seen him perform"(Joel
Davis, Times-Standard) .
Moving from Portland to northern California in the
late 1980's, Thad was quickly recognized by music promoters as an exceptional talent. As a
guitarist, Thad Beckman has been hired by Bo Diddley, The
Shirelles and Earl Thomas. As a bandleader he soon found
himself sharing the stage with such renowned artists as B.B.
King, Albert Collins, James Cotton, The Band, Emmylou Harris, The Fabulous Thunderbirds,
and Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks. During this time, Thad
also recorded three self-produced album projects, all of which received outstanding local press.
Realizing his
natural talents lay in painting tapestries of lyrical narrative, Thad moved to Austin,
Texas in 1993. Quickly rising to the top of the burgeoning local acoustic live music
scene, Thad began performing with Dave Heath, (Robert Earl
Keen) and Merel Bregante, (Loggins
and Messina) and recording his finest all-original CD to date,"Carry Me Back" (1998) with Dave and Merel acting as co-producers as well as his live
band. His writing blurs the lines in "...dusty
increments between Steve Earle and John Hiatt" (John T. Davis, Austin-American Statesman)
and he has received critical local acclaim as a songwriter in a songwriter's town. The
real thing is hard to find, but as Jim Beal Jr.of the San Antonio Express-News says, when it comes to Beckman, "...Woody Guthrie would be proud".
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