Happy Birthday, Theo Tams!

A very happy birthday to my favorite Canadians, Theo Tyson Tams. He was born 26 years ago in Alberta, Canada. In September of 2008, he was voted the winner of Canadian Idol by the viewers. His first single, released on the night he won, was Sing, a song he performed on the finals to rave reviews from the judges. The song went to #2 on the Canadian Billboard Singles Chart.



In May 2009, his album, Give It All Away, was released. The first single, Lazy Lovers, was my introduction to Theo, and I have been a fan since. Lazy Lovers made it to #14 on the Canadian Singles Chart, and to #8 on the Hot Adult Contemporary chart.



Later in the year, Wait For You was released. Theo made a brave move with the video, as it was shot with him performing a live acoustic version of the Pop song that was on the album. And it was shot in black and white. And it was amazing. The song made it to #14 on the Adult Contemporary chart. And it solidified my admiration of the singer.



Last year, he released Manhattan Blue. I would run a the video here, except Sony Canada has not made it available to be even seen by fans in the US, let alone embed in a post. Yes, over a year later, and they are keeping a tight rein on things. LOL When I originally reviewed the album on this blog (here), I mentioned he managed to do what few other Idol contestants have done, and put out a damn good first album! He was also the first LGBT contestant in North America to win, as certainly it has not happened in the US, nor does it seem likely in the near future.



Well, I kept talking about wanting to see Tams live, and it became obvious I need to take the bull by the horns to get that job done. So, once he had a tour in place for the summer of 2010, I made my plans to visit Toronto and finally hear him playing with my own ears. In fact, I timed it so I caught three different shows, and it was an absolute pleasure. Along with my favorite from the clips above, he also played most of the songs from the album, and some covers as well. One of my favorite was a performance of the Serena Ryder's Weak In The Knees.



So, have a Happy Birthday, dear Theo. May your day be filled with love, luck and laughter! To wish him your best, you can find him on FaceBook here, and Twitter here.

Sunday Morning with Theo Tams

I recently came across this clip on YouTube as I was searching for songs by my favorite Canadian artist, Theo Tams. It immediately made me think how wonderful it would be to wake up on a chilly Sunday morning, and stay wrapped in a blanket and listen to his sweet voice singing a cover of One of Us by the amazing Joan Osborne.



I have been thinking of Theo since I purchased a ticket to see an online concert (here) on December 10th. After I had a memorable trip to Toronto to catch a few shows, the thought of being able to enjoy a live performance of Theo singing his first hit, Lazy Lovers, seemed like a perfect tonic to the change in the weather.



And in case you need to perk up a little bit, here is Theo putting a little bit of swing into the song The Sweet Ones. So nice when Theo puts a touch of growl in that beautiful voice of his.

Toronto or Bust

Well, I am starting on my way to Toronto - will drive part of the way there tonight, and the rest tomorrow. The goal, of course, is to see Theo Tams performing live Thursday, Friday and Sunday night at three different locations. I am borrowing a laptop, and if I can get it to work, I hope to be online. I have scheduled posts for this week, and hope you are going to enjoy the music, although it is a bit lighter than usual. Otherwise, I will catch up with you next week! Unless I will be lucky enough to meet some of you at the Theo shows!

To tide you over, here is a clip of Theo singing Lazy Lovers from his Tuesday night show in Toronto. Thanks Tigger4Theo for the link!

One Week & Counting till Theo Tams

In one weeks time, I will be basking in the post-show glow of my very first Theo Tams show. Next Thursday night, I have a ticket for his show at the Lebovic Centre for the Performing Arts, and I am so very excited. I will be driving to the Toronto area while his Taking It All Back tour is in the area. I plan to take advantage, and catch two or three shows while I am there. I will be bringing my Theo-stuff hoping to get it signed. You see, at heart, I am a big fan of Theo, and have been hoping to get the chance to see him perform live since first discovering the 2008 Canadian Idol winner. The first song I heard was the single Lazy Lovers, which you can see him performing live here.



I have his post-win release, Giving It All Away, as well as his pre-Idol EP, Unexpected. I also have the book that was published about him after the win. I was thinking of which songs I would enjoy hearing, and just about any will do. I really have so many favorites! I will be bringing my camera and a videocam, hoping to catch something worthwhile I might be too excited to get anything worthwhile, but will try. Here he is singing Blacklight, a song from the EP.



This will also mark my first time visiting Canada, so that is exciting as well. It seems strange, since I lived in Vermont, just about an hour from the border, and never made it there. I look forward to seeing Toronto, and am sure I will have a great time, meeting some Theo fan's I have met online!

Theo Tams - Lazy Lovers

As I was surfing the internet a year ago, I ran into a mention of a Canadian singer/songwriter and his new video. I found it on YouTube, and that was the start to my complete infatuation with the music of Theo Tams. I purchased his album, and thought it was wonderful. Then I did my research, and found out he was named the Canadian Idol in 2008, and won it as an out man. I checked out the clips from the show, and thought he really was talented. He also has some great fans who have been very sweet to me, and even have had the occasion to chat online to Theo, only to discover he is a funny, sweet, and interesting man. One I hope to see live and in person someday soon. But here is the video that started it all, Lazy Lovers form his debut effort, Give It All Away.



Theo recently released a video for Wait For You which I found intriguing. A live performance of the song captured on video, just a boy and his piano giving a heart-wrenching reading of a good song. I, for one, was truly impressed by this video.



For more about Theo, visit his official website here. Go there and check out the sneak peek of the music video for Manhattan Blue.

New Music - Theo Tams - Give It All Away

Theo Tams didn’t have the cover of Rolling Stone or Entertainment Weekly, not before nor after he was named the winner of Canadian Idol last September. Yet he did something that had not been done before [at least to my knowledge], an out gay man won a version of the television juggernaut. He has also done something few have been able to accomplish, put out a pretty fantastic debut CD.



I will admit I didn’t see Canadian Idol, so I had no idea what he sounded like or even what he looked like. I happen to catch a video on YouTube for Lazy Lovers, and thought it was good, so I did some research and found out about CI. Another interesting thing was that it did not shy away from his sexuality, as the video features both a gay and a lesbian couple, as well as the str8 ones.



I liked Lazy Lovers enough to purchase the CD, Give It All Away, and give it a listen. Gotta say, I was impressed. Lazy Lovers is not my favorite track on the CD. I’m Gonna Say is a really nice opening track, blending Pop with a but of Soul, great for Tams’ voice. Reckless is a Pop/Rock song that lifts off and soars with Theo's vocals.



The CD has 13 songs, and Theo is listed as a cowriter on 7 of those, pretty remarkable for a young talent. These credits include the hot I’m Gonna Say and Lazy Lovers.He also cowrote on I Ain’t Cryin’, another hot track with some sexy guitar work featured. I know nothing about Canadian Idol nor it’s success rate, but I certainly hope Theo Tams has good sales numbers and will be releasing more music. I am not sure how soon or if Theo has any plans to hit the US on tour, but I would certainly be interested in catching him live. And you can go on his website and sign up to wish him a happy birthday on Sunday, July 12, as he turns 24 years old. Damn kids [LOL].