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In
Loving Memory of Chadd Thomas |
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Outside
of the obvious things about Chadd, such as his music, superstar
personality and his utter dislike of the Beatles, the two things
I truly cherish are the weekly visits he paid to me at casino. The
first thing he would always do is spread some hugs, then share his
latest joke. Even though he loved adult style and low brow humor,
his favorite jokes to tell were the latest ones that his daughter
told him. His eyes would light up and his grin would stretch a mile
because he was so proud to share his "baby girl’s" humor. At the
end of each visit he would start walking, turn around and give a
"love ya, baby" as he made his exit. I will always think of him
fondly from those years of time spent outside of the music scene.
He will always bring a smile when I think of him. Truly will he
be missed. - Frap
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On
Monday July 11, 2011 we lost a great friend, musician, and father.
APD
reported to the Statesman…
Rockabilly
musician Charles "Chadd" Thomas II was involved in three
separate, unrelated altercations between Sunday evening and early
Monday morning before his body was found on South Congress Avenue,
police said.
Thomas'
death was ruled a homicide earlier this week. On Thursday, police
released more details about his demise and asked any witnesses to
the events leading up to his death to come forward.
Detective
Chris Smyth said investigators think Thomas, 38, was injured in
three incidents that took place between 5 p.m. Sunday and 1 a.m.
Monday.
The
first was a "disturbance involving a car" at either the
3600 block or 3000 block of South Lamar Boulevard in which he was
hurt. Smyth said Thomas might have been struck by a car.
A short time later, Thomas attended a party in the 200 block of
East Alpine Road, off South Congress Avenue, Smyth said. Detectives
believe Thomas was involved in an altercation at that party and
was assaulted there.
Thomas
was then driven to the 2600 block of South Congress Avenue, where
he was possibly assaulted again.. His body was found there at 7:45
a.m. Monday.
Chadd
Thomas was my ex-husband and best friend. He was one of the funniest
people I’ve ever met and a joy to be around. Chadd loved his
family and friends and would do anything for them. The world lost
a precious man in this horrific tragedy.
Chadd
and I met in ’96 when visiting a friend in Austin. I was 15
and walking down 6th street with my girlfriend because we obviously
couldn’t get into any bars. Chadd was playing the Black Cat
and saw us and immediately invited us in. After the show he walked
us out and we totally knew we were going to end up together. 3 years
go by with little correspondence as he lived in Houston and I lived
in Corpus. Then in 1999 I opened up the paper and saw that The Crazy
Kings were playing that night in CC. I showed up and asked him if
he remembered me. That was it. We were married in 2000 and he has
been a fixture in my life ever since. Some of the best times in
my life were spent in his company. The fact that I will never see
his sweet face again is unimaginable.
Chadd
and I are a rare example of a divorced couple. We were so proud
of our relationship and how we weren’t only friends but family.
We still said “I love you” every time we hung up the
phone. He was always there no matter what. He was my rock and I
was his. We wouldn’t have had it any other way.
Everyone
who knew Chadd knew he was a huge joker. He would call every day
with a new joke, sometimes twice. That’s not even an exaggeration.
He was always trying to make everyone laugh and he was very good
at it. He loved to be happy and he loved for everyone around him
to be happy. He was an incredible performer and front man. He definitely
lived his life to the fullest. His spirit is strong and he will
never be forgotten.
Chadd Thomas
was born in Birmingham, Alabama December 6, 1972.
His daughter
Madison Rose Thomas was born August 12, 2004. She is left without
a daddy due to this unnecessary, heinous sequence of events. He
loved her more than anything in the world. His mother Rexann Thomas
and sister DeAnn Thomas want to thank everyone who loved Chadd and
all of his friends everywhere for being a part of his life.
Not
a lot of people can say they had the coolest ex-husband in the world,
but I can. Thanks Chadd T. for the memories and everything you shared
with this world. Sleep tight my sweet angel.
Jaylen
Tillery
If
you would like to donate to Madison's trust, please email vanjaylen@yahoo.com
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I’m writing
this about one of my best friends Mr. Chadd Thomas, known to his friends
as Chadd T.
To explain why this great person meant so much to me you must know
how I met him. I met Chadd in 1994 at a club called the Blue Iguana
in Houston, Texas. I was singing in a garage rock band at the time
and had never really played for a big crowd. During this period of
time Houston was filled with really great, talented players who had
no style of their own. All the bands were washed out hair metal and
bad blues bands with names like the Bluez Dudez . Chadd was a DJ and
was considered a badass because he one of the first DJs in town that
would play Rockabilly, Jump Blues and Swing music. And he had style,
there was always super hot girls hanging off him, and to the untrained
eye, he looked like something straight out of a mobster flick, greasy
good looking guy with nice suits and shoes, money in his pocket, always
buying drinks.
This was a shock to the system for someone who wears camo shorts,
flip flops and a chain wallet. I was in awe of this guy because he
was able to pay my band good money.
Fast forward three years later and my life was not going good at all,
I was in an awful band and a shitty marriage and I was broke.
I picked up a local paper an saw an advert for a rockabilly guitarist
in a band called Chadd Thomas and the Crazy Kings. This was my shot
to get out of the hole.
If I could nail the audition.
I showed up and bombed. I sucked real bad so I went home to lick my
wounds and stare at the want ads, then I realized that the Crazy Kings
advert also needed a piano player and a steel guitarist, my father
had just left me a Dobro when he passed away so I packed up and went
to audition for my second jam with the band.
So I bombed the second audition for the crazy kings, the Dobro was
not a good choice for this band, so Chadd took pity on me said, "Look
Dan I like you a lot and want you to be in the band so go out and
buy a damn steel guitar and you got the gig.” Since that day
my life was changed forever, I've played on 50 + records,toured the
world and played with legendary players thanks to my friend that gave
me my life as a steel guitarist.
Chadd is gone now and I will always feel like I owe him a lot, he
will be missed.
The funny thing about him is that he is an artist that people are
now just finally starting to get, starting to realize how many of
their favorite touring bands were able to play and and tour the road
because they had been in Rockabilly Boot Camp.
Thanks Chadd Thomas and his Crazy Kings .
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