After a musical journey that commenced in his native Portland, Oregon, and led to Los Angeles, Cincinnati, and New York, sharing stages with everyone from James Brown to Stevie Wonder to Otis Redding to Etta James, Ural Thomas became disillusioned with the music business and returned home to the city of roses at the end of the decade – where he continues to reign as Portland’s uncontested Soul Brother Number One.
In 2014 Ural met drummer/bandleader Scott Magee at a Sunday jam session he’d been hosting for decades and Ural Thomas and The Pain was born. The full showband set to work, prolifically gigging, touring the world, and releasing four critically acclaimed records (two LPs and two singles) between 2015 and 2018. Despite the usual COVID-19 obstacles, The Pain finally completed their much-anticipated third album in 2021.
While Dancing Dimensions explores everything from sweet Chicago soul to airy West Coast psychedelia to Sly funk, their latest collection retains the distinctive sound this well-oiled tightly-knit musical aggregation organically developed over years of relentless work. Classic yet unmistakably contemporary at the same time, Dancing Dimensions is the most accurate representation of The Pain’s unique flavour, power, and musical breadth committed to vinyl thus far.
Ural Thomas plays The Smokehouse in Ipswich in September – click here for Smokehouse listings
