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in si de ha lto n. co m O ak vi lle B ea ve r | T hu rs da y, M ar ch 1 5, 20 18 | Visit insidehalton.comfor more coverage Bryce Thomas makes top 5 0 in CBC national music competition JULIE SLACK jslack@miltoncanadianchampion.com While Bryce Thomas's two young children slept, he managed to write, perform and record a song that made the top 50 in a CBC national music com­ petition. The Oakville singer-songwriter was selected by CBC Music's Searchlight 2018 judging panel as one of 50 entrants to move on to Round 2 of the contest, out of 2,000 entrants nationwide. Though he didn't make the final cut to the na­ tional top 10 list (based on online votes), he was happy just the same. "I'm simply thrilled at being selected as one of the top 50 nationally selected by CBC Music's judges' pick," he said. "It's an accomplishment made more no­ table by the fact my song wasn't select­ ed by number of votes, but by the CBC judges." His song, Midnight in the Garden, is a lovers' waltz, and features him on pia­ no - the first instrument he learned, at six years old. He can now play guitar, trumpet, drums, mandolin, accordion and harmonica. At the time he recorded Midnight in the Garden, he had two children under two; Thomas and his wife Lisanne (who sings on his first album) are now par­ ents of three children; Anelise, Blake and Chantale. A songwriter most of his life, Thom­ as, 45, was in the Searchlight contest last year as well, but in a very different style - pop-punk. That song got him into the top 10 regional spot. "Midnight in the Garden takes me back to my old roots," he said. Readers can listen to his music here: http://w w w.cbcm usic.ca/searchlight/ e n tr ie s /l/0 /0 /2 4 /b ryce % 2 0 th o m a s . And watch his video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hV7ZMJT64PQ. This is his audition video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebJ2l-8ZaV0. "When I realized the judges picked me, that was even a better surprise, because I'm not a millennial who's got a million YouTube followers," he said, noting half the finalists were chosen by number of votes. "Basically I've got my kids, my fami­ ly and my day job (for voters)." Thomas, who grew up in Brampton, said he's been flirting with the music in­ dustry most of his life and has always been a member of a band. In fact, his first band got its wings in Grade 3, when they did a cover of Let's Get Physical, and dedicated it to their phys-ed teacher. Despite his love of music, he never de­ cided to make it into a full-time gig. "It's something that I never really felt comfortable doing full time - it's been more of a creative outlet for me, a way to express thoughts and feelings. Midnight in the Garden was on his sec­ ond album, which he produced five years after the first. He also shot a music video while walking down the street in Paris in 2016, and featuring his wife dancing. When he's not songwriting or singing, he's busy with his own company. Since 2003, he's been operating a brand-name communications and marketing business, and in 2013, he began a technology startup providing club management software for clubs and athlete tracking among clubs. G raham P a in e /M e tro la n d Singer-songwriter Bryce Thomas was selected by CBC Music's Searchlight 2018 judging panel as 1 of only 50 entrants to move onto Round 2 of the contest (out of 2000 plus entrants nationwide). McMaster Camps 2018 Registration now open! visit: marauders.ca/camps fo r more info ALL 6 PCS! 6 P C D I N E T T E #908949 INCLUDES TABLE, 4 CHAIRS & BENCH mailto:jslack@miltoncanadianchampion.com http://www.cbcmusic.ca/searchlight/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hV7ZMJT64PQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebJ2l-8ZaV0