Thomas Fraser - Treasure Untold: Further Selections From The Thomas Fraser Recordings - CD

Thomas Fraser was born in the Shetland Islands in 1927. Thomas became interested in music from an early age and learned to play the fiddle and later, the guitar. His musical outlook took on a new dimension when he was exposed to the US armed forces radio network broadcasting from Europe. It is likely that this is where he first heard his idol, Jimmie Rodgers. Thomas went on to buy Rodgers’ discs religiously and began to practice the Brakeman’s unique singing and guitar style. Thomas’s musical interests developed into blues, jazz, country and traditional music forms. Over the years and despite his remote location, he accrued a vast knowledge of the various genres. Thomas threw himself into recording and over the next 25 years went on to tape thousands of his own interpretations of favourite songs. A lone fisherman and crofter, Thomas lived a hard life and following two accidents at sea, he died in 1978 aged only 50. At Thomas’ own request, the vast recorded archive was passed on to his nephew after his death. Following the discovery of the archive some 25 years later by Thomas’s grandson in 2002, the first CD collection of Thomas Fraser’s work was released. ‘Long Gone Lonesome Blues’ received massive critical acclaim and was followed in 2004 by the equally enthralling You And My Old Guitar. Treasure Untold, the third release in the series, unearthes more unbelievable treasures in a very real sense and will delight country blues fans and scholars the world over.