“Pm home (in Terrace) because
- IT want people here to enjoy and
share in what I’m doing and to
_ ‘hear some of my new music.
With that comment, Laurie
Thain explained that she will be
performing at dinner concert in
the Terrace Hotel on March 23
and24, ° 7

by Betty Barton

Laurie Thain grew up in Ter-

_ race and made her stage debut at

a Northwest Music Festival 23
years ago, when she was 12,
Laurie is a song writer and coun-
try singer. She describes her
music, ‘‘It's somewhere between
light country and modern
romantic. Everything I do is
honest.”’

Laurie’s philosophy is ‘‘Do
your own thing until your thing
becomes the thing.”’

Laurie’s dad, Bill Thain, was
a Terrace businessman. Laurie’s
mum had been a school teacher,
but stayed home with the kids
for as long as Laurie can
’ remember. Laurie was quite shy
during her high school years, so
few Terrace people knew of her
tremendous musical talent. She
. exelled in physical education ac-
tivities, for which she was better
known. Laurie has a degree in
Physical Education from UBC.
During her time there, she won
two Big Blocks — one for curl-
ing (an athletic award) and a sec-
ond for managing the UBC
track and field team (an ad-
. ministrative award). Laurie
believes in herself and sets her
standards high.

She knows that she could rise
‘up the music ladder faster if she
moved to Nashville, but she
wants to remain a Canadian in

Canada. She is going to Nash- -

ville in April to record four
songs for her third album. She
will be working with Tony Mig-
liore (Chuck Atkins’s producer),
Once the four songs are record-
ed, she hopes to solicit major
labels to produce it. Laurie’s
first two albums, Hopeless
Romantic and Matters of the
Heart, were released on her own
Pure Pacific Music label.

Laurie hopes to produce her
newest album with all-original
works, but she says that will de-
pend on who agrees to release it.
She says it will be tailor-made
’ for AM radio, The process?
“Simplify it tastefully and use a
distillation process to make it
memorable.”’ Laurie adds, *‘The
key to a successful song? It
touches everyone’s experience.”

-And how does Laurie get an
idea for a song? People, places
and events inspire her. The ideas
for words keep circling until
they come together, and then she
doesn’t forget them. ‘The lines
just stay with me.’? An example
of a song, as yet unwritten is ‘‘If
I can’t take my quitar with me, I
don’t wanna go.’’ The words of
this song denote Laurie’s protec-
tive feelings about her own
guitar, She says she’s only once
spent two days without it, and
she finally, had to have it sent to
her.

Laurie Thain. plays a hand-
made quitar, built especially for
her by Jean Larrivee of Victoria.

The ‘guitar is made of Indian.

~ Laurie Thain?

rosewood and ebony, and Sitka
spruce from Vancouver Island

‘finishes the top of the instru-—
ment. Laurie jokes, “It took a.

hundred and sixty years. to grow
the top of that guitar!’? The
trademark of her company
“Pure Pacific Music’’
dolphins — are inlaid in Mother

of Pearl on the head stock of the

guitar. Laurie. is extremely proud

of the instrument. She says she’s |

still learning the subtleties of
playing it.

Laurie is sensitive to the needs
and wishes of her listeners and
fans. She tries to write accurate-
ly to the geography so that she
doesn’t offend the people of the
area she’s. writing about. But,
she wonders if she worries too
much about it. She wants to ask

her listeners, ‘What do you do ~

when you know it would be a hit
if you said ‘‘Montana’’, and you
know that the event took place
on the Alberta side? Who in the -
U.S. knows Alberta? Does it
matter?”

Laurie is a supporter of
music, but also of people. For
the last 11 years, she has par-
ticipated in the Lion Club’s Tim-
my’s Telethon across Western
Canada. She credits her initial
involvement to the Terrace
Lions, She says many people
question her about the Variety
Club telethon, which she has
never done. She feels she should.
devote her energies to one chari-
ty and do a good job of it. .

_ This spring, Laurie is coor-
dinating a ‘“‘Barn Raiser 1990”
in Abbotsford. This is an of-
ficial ‘‘B.C. Lions Society for

Crippled Children’’ event. ‘‘The

object of this event is to have as
much fun as is humanly possible
in the time given, while raising
funds for the special needs
children of the Fraser Valley.
Everyone is encouraged to dress
Western or answer to the
Sheriff!’’ Laurie says this kind
of event fulfills her desire to
work with children combined
with country music interests.
Laurie seems surprised, but
pleased when she asks for dona-
tions to this country music fun-
draiser, that people actually

‘know who she is! Laurie won the

DuMaurier Talent Search in
1979. This year, she is judging
the provincial country music
talent search competition and
hosting the B.C. Country Music
Awards event with BCTV an-
chor Tony Parsons.

To date, Laurie has released
her own records, promoted and

arranged her own engagements -

and also looked after the
business end of things. This
Christmas season, she shipped a
Christmas single to Europe.

Recently k.d. lang’s manager,
Larry Wanagas, approached
Laurie to help him manage
k.d.’s career, Laurie says it’s
nice to be recognized by that
level of professional, but she
believes in herself and in her
music. And, she wants to come
back. to Terrace in grand style
when she’s released her third
album. She wants to share her
success with the friends and sup-
porters who have helped her

achieve her musical goal, ,

Entertainer and recording artist Laurie Thain of Terrace is one of the many musicians who got
their start as competitors in the Pacific Northwest Music Festival. She is currently working on her
third album.

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