Very sad and shocked to learn of the death of Thomas Hansen a self canonised Norwegian ex-postman and would be cowboy who performed as St Thomas.
He was found dead in his Oslo apartment on September 10th aged just 31.
I once saw him play in 2002 at a small club in Bologna supporting Lambchop who were touring to promote their album ‘Is A Woman’. Thomas’ command of English was, like his guitar playing ablity, less than perfect but this didn’t stop him from chatting away and cracking jokes in between his sad but charming songs (most of the audience knew even less English but that didn’t trouble him!).
On the strength of his performance I bought his album I’m Coming Home where he sounds like Neil Young’s long lost Norwegian brother. The opening track – Cool Song – remains a big favourite with bizarre couplets like “I could never give you in – have you ever seen my chin”.
I’ll remember him fondly for his humour and honesty. A sad loss.
