October 10, 2018
Page 9
Mississippi
Alberta
North Portland
Vancouver
East County
Beaverton
Ural Thomas, a pillar of Portland soul, will be inducted into the Oregon Music Hall of Fame and will be one of the performers at the 12th annual Oregon
Music Hall of Fame induction ceremony and concert coming Saturday, Oct. 13 at 7 p.m. to the Aladdin Theater.
Ural Thomas, a veteran
R&B funkmaster from north
Portland who has shared stages
with the likes of Otis Redding
and James Brown is being in-
ducted into the Oregon Music
Hall Saturday along with the
Amundson Trio, Andy Stokes,
the Freak Mountain Rambles
and the Rats.
The 12th Annual Oregon
Music Hall of Fame Induction
& Concert will be held Satur-
day, Oct. 13 at 7 p.m. at the
Aladdin Theater featuring per-
formances by The Kingsmen,
the Monti Amundson Trio and
Ural Thomas and the Pain.
Funk Master Tribute
Ural Thomas joins Oregon Music Hall
Thomas was born in Louisi-
ana in 1939, moving to Oregon
a few years later when his fam-
ily settled in the Mississippi
district. In his teens Ural was
performing with a doo-wop
group, the Monterays and in
1964 recorded his songs “Deep
Within My Heart” and “Push
‘em Up” for the regional Sure
Star label.
By 1966, he signed with LA
producer/writer Jerry Gold-
stein on the UNI label, record-
ing “Can You Dig It?” with
Mary Wells, Brenda Holloway
and Mary Wilson backing him
up. He established himself na-
tionally, appearing at the famed
Apollo club in Harlem and
opening for Stevie Wonder,
Otis Redding and The Rolling
Stones.
In 2010 he was coaxed back
on stage for the first time in 40
years. His current band, Ural
Thomas and The Pain, spent
the next few years forging their
sound and recording their first
album. By 2014 they were
named by Willamette Week‘s
Best New Band. At age 79 now,
Ural and the band has signed to
Tender Loving Empire.
The Portland-based group
Portugal. The Man is the 2018
Oregon Music Hall of Fame
Artist of the Year and Album
of Year winner. The group
has found enormous success
with its singles, “Live in the
Moment” and “Feel It Still,”
which reached No. 1 on the
Billboard Alternative Hot 100
Airplay and Pop Songs charts
and became a Top 5 hit on the
Billboard Hot 100.
Tony Starlight will be the
MC for Saturday’s concert.
Proceeds help support music
education, and scholarship
programs. Tickets are on sale
at ticketfly.com and the Alad-
din Theater box office.