“Thomas at the Piano”

We met Thomas in Rodney, Mississippi on the first day of our Booze ‘N Blues Tour as he was walking up from a creek with his fishing pole and a plastic bucket full of catfish. Our “conversation starter” Gloria struck up a conversation with him and I snapped a few photos. After a little while I made my way across the road to an old church where Craig was shooting photos. He, Steve and Kaye were exploring this very run-down and beautiful building and Craig pointed out the weathered piano in a corner. I suggested “Wouldn’t it be great if we could get a shot of Thomas at the piano?” Craig said “I’ll get him!”

Thomas was very gracious and willing to pose for us in various areas of the church including seated at the piano. He was a man of very few words. We asked him if he could play the piano and he turned and plunked on one key which let out a sour note. Thomas turned back to us with a big grin and that’s when I captured the photo I used to create this painting.

Craig and Gloria’s payment to Thomas for his modeling session was a cigar, a bottle of Gatorade and a $20 bill. Along with his bucket of catfish, I imagine he had quite a nice supper that day.