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Robert D. Thomas
Celebrated Renaisance man, conceptual artist and social visionary. Bob was the leader of the wild band that played at early Rennaisance Pleasure Faires; The Golden Toad. He also had a unique and instrumental artistic relationship with The Grateful Dead. In 1979 he created The Institute for Traditional Studies with a group of close collaborators. Many of us know him simply as the dignified sign painter for the Blackpoint and Agoura Rennaisance Pleasure Faires, I know him both as my found mentor, and as the Godfather whom I lived with in a commune as a baby in South Pasadena.
Bob was a unique mentor in the late seventies, he released his collaborative design for "Skull Fuck" on the Grateful Dead album "Steal Your Face". He conceived of the Institute for Traditional Studies, and revived the Abbots Bromley and Morris dancing on the West coast of California. Another passion was the loomis vault recordings of early Californios music, his band "Los Californios" provides a direct link between the tradition of creating unique music in California by combining the finest players with some of the best tunes. He is most known among traditional musicians for his meticulous work re-creating traditional bagpipes. World famous makers such as Brian Steeger and Alan Kiethley studied with Bob.
The Thomas Festival is a starting point to create a festival celebrating the three things that Bob loved; Traditional Music, Alternative Energy/Traditional know-how and community-building that is playful and convivial in nature. Gathering together in Celtic knot of community interaction, the festival is meant to have a fluid focus able to change with the generations.
The primary shaping force of the festival environment is the curtailment of noise pollution. No generator noise, no electronic boomboxes, and please no unauthorized recording.
