{{Short description|American soul music singer (born 1939)}}
[[File:Ural Thomas and the Pain play at Mississippi Studios 05.jpg|thumb|right|Ural Thomas and the Pain play at Mississippi Studios.]]
'''Ural Thomas''' (born 21 December 1939)<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=Weinbender|first=Nathan|title=Ural Thomas started making music 50 years ago, and his band will take you back to the '60s|url=https://www.inlander.com/spokane/ural-thomas-started-making-music50-years-ago-and-his-band-the-pain-will-take-you-right-back-to-the-60s/Content?oid=11195609|access-date=2020-06-19|website=Inlander}}</ref> is an American soul music singer. While Thomas has made music for over fifty years, his public performances span two eras: the 1950s through the 1960s, and from 2013 through the present as '''Ural Thomas and the Pain'''.
== Early life and career == Thomas was born in Louisiana, learning to sing in church.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|last=McElhiney|first=Brian|date=|title=No pain, no gain: Ural Thomas returns to Bend|url=https://www.bendbulletin.com/lifestyle/no-pain-no-gain-ural-thomas-returns-to-bend/article_5f4b679c-8a78-55f3-a6a6-a322d44ae6fd.html|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-06-19|website=The Bend Bulletin|language=en}}</ref> The seventh of sixteen children, his family relocated to Portland, Oregon when he was a young child.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Tonry|first=Andrew|date=|title=Heart and Soul|url=https://www.portlandmercury.com/portland/heart-and-soul/Content?oid=10934777|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-06-19|website=Portland Mercury|language=en}}</ref> He attended Jefferson High School.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|title=Portland Soul Singers Ural Thomas and Blossom Get Dressed Up to Get Down|url=https://www.pdxmonthly.com/style-and-shopping/2018/09/portland-soul-singers-ural-thomas-and-blossom-get-dressed-up-to-get-down|access-date=2020-06-19|website=Portland Monthly|language=en-US}}</ref>
Thomas became a professional singer in the 1950s as a young man, with over forty performances at the Apollo Theater.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2018-09-24|title=Premiere: Ural Thomas And The Pain Bring Soul In 'No Distance'|url=https://www.vibe.com/2018/09/premiere-ural-thomas-the-pain-no-distance|access-date=2020-06-19|website=Vibe|language=en}}</ref> He worked with or opened for musicians such as Etta James,<ref name=":2" /> Otis Redding, James Brown, and Stevie Wonder.<ref name=":0" /> Thomas moved back to Portland in 1968.{{Citation needed|date=September 2020}}
== Ural Thomas and the Pain == [[File:Ural Thomas and the Pain at Doug Fir Lounge in Portland, Oregon 03.png|thumb|Ural Thomas and the Pain at the Doug Fir Lounge in 2022]] In the early 2010s Scott Magee, a Portland-based soul DJ, learned via the owner of Mississippi Records that Thomas{{mdash}}whose early records he spun{{mdash}}still lived in Portland.<ref name=":0" /> Despite having weekly jam sessions in his home, a tradition started in the 1970s, Thomas seldom played live shows.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Singer|first=Matthew|date=|title=Soul Revival|url=https://www.wweek.com/portland/article-21467-soul-revival.html|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-06-19|website=Willamette Week|language=en-US}}</ref> Together, Thomas and Magee created Ural Thomas and the Pain, an eight-piece backing band for Thomas's vocals.<ref name=":1" /> The group has released two full-length albums: 2016's self-titled release and 2018's ''The Right Time'', the latter of which was released on the label Tender Loving Empire.<ref>{{Cite web|first=|date=|title=Ural Thomas & The Pain|url=https://tenderlovingempire.com/collections/ural-thomas-the-pain|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-06-19|website=Tender Loving Empire|language=en}}</ref> The band has played in venues as large as the main stage of the Waterfront Blues Festival.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Rosman|first=John|title=5 Picks For 2015 Portland Waterfront Blues Festival|url=https://www.opb.org/news/article/5-picks-for-2015-portland-waterfront-blues-festival/|access-date=2020-06-19|website=www.opb.org|language=en}}</ref> Their third album, ''Dancing Dimensions'', was released on Bella Union in June, 2022.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Powell |first=Austin |date=2022-03-11 |title=SXSW Music Spotlight: Ural Thomas & the Pain |url=https://www.austinchronicle.com/music/2022-03-11/sxsw-music-spotlight-ural-thomas-and-the-pain/ |access-date=2022-06-07 |website=www.austinchronicle.com |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Song of the Week: 'Dancing Dimensions' by Ural Thomas & the Pain |url=https://www.pdxmonthly.com/arts-and-culture/2022/03/ural-thomas-and-the-pain-dancing-dimensions-song-of-the-week |access-date=2022-06-07 |website=Portland Monthly |language=en-US}}</ref>
== References == {{reflist}}
== External links == * [https://www.uralthomasandthepain.com/home Ural Thomas and the Pain] * [https://tenderlovingempire.com/collections/ural-thomas-the-pain Tender Loving Empire: Ural Thomas and the Pain]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Ural}} Category:1939 births Category:Living people Category:Jefferson High School (Portland, Oregon) alumni Category:Singers from Portland, Oregon Category:American soul singers