Champagne With Friends
Stars Of Texas Magazine Feb. 2006
Beaumont native Thomas Champagne may be best know as
the lead vocalist and bass man for a funk rock trio
called Audioflava based out of Austin. But, songs all
begin somewhere and with chief songwriting duties for
the band that means the beginnings all come from
Thomas sitting with acoustic guitar in hand. He began
his musical career with another funk rock band by the
name of 4D2 out of College Station while attending
school there. After a couple years on the road he
decided to ease on back to his Beaumont roots and back
to the roots of music with a band called Folsom Creek
that blended bluegrass roots with roots rock. Shortly
there after Thomas began paying more attention to his
own words and chords and put together the Audioflava
project that he now has parlayed into a successful
trio roaming Texas from east to the west and all parts
in between. They have a live album out now and a full
blown studio release out in the spring.
Like most songwriters, he never stops writing and has
a stack of songs that just don’t quite fit the full
funky groove of Audioflava, enter Thomas Champagne the
solo project. The solo project has Thomas co-hosting a
songwriters night at Cypress Creek Cafe in Wimberley
every Tuesday beginning at 8 pm with fellow songsmith
Foscoe Jones. The two rules of the songwriters night
are that it has to be your song and it has to be
played acoustic, no genre limits beyond that, so it’s
an eclectic mix that’s always fun. You “the
songwriter” can even sign up online and get preferred
placement above the walk in sign ups by letting them
know you’re coming ahead of time. The email address is
champagnejonessignup@ yahoo.com for those interested.
I might add that the publisher of this fine magazine
Jim Haile is present most Tuesday nights to check out
the new talent so it may be a good shot at getting
heard by someone cultivating the live music scene.
This weekly event also provides a situation that
allows Thomas to pick guests for his weekly song swaps
on Sunday afternoons at the Blanco Rose, in where
else, Blanco. This is an invitation only performance
called Champagne With Friends that kicks off at 1 pm
every Sunday. There are a variety of guests from all
musical genres mixing things up with Thomas in this
great cafe. They offer champagne drink specials as
well as some of the greatest grub around, so pay them
a visit when your out for your Sunday drive.
At either event you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how
infectious the songs are, it’s a fresh funky take on
songwriting that you just can’t help tapping your foot
to with a grin on your face, especially when you see
that Thomas has a strong aversion to having shoes on
while playing, even carries his own rug. With a
barefoot guy with the name Champagne playing, it just
has to be good right? Visit Thomas at
www.AudioFlava.com for his band and solo schedule.
Visit www.CypressCreekCafe.com and www.BlancoRose.com
respectively for details and directions. Get out, have
fun.
