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Vegas musician pens tunes promoting First Friday, North Las Vegas

In the late 1970s, Brian Thomas was a musician who had sold a few jingles in his hometown of Buffalo, N.Y. After a more than 30-year hiatus, he's trying to get back into the jingle business with songs for North Las Vegas, one of his favorite bars and First Friday, but so far, the project has remained a labor of love.

That's one commodity he isn't short on.

"I needed to make steady money so I could send my beautiful daughters through college," Thomas said. "I worked for 20 years as a property manager in West L.A., then my wife and I moved here (to North Las Vegas) 12 years ago. I left the music business, but I never stopped being a musician."

His daughters now have their degrees and jobs, and Thomas has dived back into music, not for his own glory but because he wants to help others, and he sees his music and his jingles as a way to raise money for those less fortunate.

"I have an agreement with the man upstairs," Thomas said. "If he gives me the opportunity to keep my health, I will do what I can to help other people."

Thomas is a member of the congregation at Guardian Angel Cathedral, the 50-year-old Catholic church that is in the shadow of Encore on the Strip. He sees creating music to raise money for charity and organizations he believes in as his God-given responsibility. His group, New York West Music, performed at Santa Fe Station in a fundraising event for the nonprofit Safe Nest. The group also was the opening act at the grand opening ceremonies for Craig Ranch Regional Park in North Las Vegas in 2013, where they performed his jingles.

So far, he hasn't sold any of the new jingles, having been told the same thing every time.

"I played my First Friday jingle for Charles Ressler (communications, sponsorship, and special projects director for First Friday, who left the organization in late 2014), and he told me the organization didn't have money in their budget for a jingle," Thomas said. "I love everything about First Friday. If they would sponsor Safe Nest and give them a donation, I would release it to them."

Thomas has a special spot in his heart for Safe Nest, a charity that provides temporary shelter for women in domestic crisis and their children. He was raised for part of his childhood in an orphanage, and the issue of broken families is one he dwells upon frequently.

Reactions to the jingle from an assortment of artists and art fans at The Arts Factory, 107 E. Charleston Blvd., were a mixed batch, with people calling it corny, old-fashioned or making comparisons to 1960s Christmas music, hamburger joint commercials and, "Something you would hear on PBS."

But several admitted that even though they didn't think it was the right jingle for First Friday, it was catchy. Artist Alexander Huerta noted that if it was available as a ringtone, he could imagine a lot of people downloading it.

"I could see people buying it as a ringtone for a buck," Huerta said. "They might do it as a goof, but I bet we'd hear that coming out of a few phones down here."

Thomas continues to create music and records professionally with session musicians at Audio Mix House, formerly Odds On Records & Studios, in Henderson. He recorded "When We Touch," a song based on "Romeo and Juliet," and he recently recorded a country song called "Home's Where the Love Is." He's practicing with a trio and hopes to perform with them soon. The majority of his output is the jingles, however, and he hopes to make a big sale there so he can use his talent to bring money to the causes he believes in.

"What's inside me is a belief," Thomas said. "I believe good things can happen to people, but nothing in this world is given to you. You've got to earn it."

Thomas' music, including his jingles for North Las Vegas and First Friday, can be heard at newyorkwestmusic.com.

— To reach East Valley View reporter F. Andrew Taylor, email ataylor@viewnews.com or call 702-380-4532.

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