Shows were canceled, venues shuttered and everyone hunkered down.Ĭollaborations, networking and performing were replaced by quarantine, isolation and the realization that the music career Thomas had been building assiduously since high school had become fragile and suddenly tenuous. Thomas and the members of their band, Anjimile Chithambo (guitar), Dominic “Diggity Dom” Glaude (drums) and Shiva Kovvuri (bass), were about to embark on some European gigs, and a small tour of the Midwestern United States, but touring was out, too. “It hit us financially and connections-wise really hard.” “It was my first time at the Grammys, and I’m meeting all these people and I had a ton of connections lined up.”īut then, the pandemic exploded and the opportunities imploded, leaving Thomas and their band bereft. In January, Thomas attended the ceremony in Los Angeles. The Grammy nomination felt particularly gratifying. Thomas had performed on The View, was nominated for a number of music awards, including a Grammy, and had won grants that enabled Thomas to worry a little less about whether to pursue a creative life or put food on the table. The Boston-based hip hop artist, poet and writer had accumulated a steady list of accomplishments. Last year seemed like the year that Billy Dean Thomas would finally break through.
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