Thomas is a sound artist, field recordist, and musician
based in Arizona’s Sonoran Desert on the
ancestral lands of the O’Odham (known as the Pima),
Piipaash (known as the Maricopa), and their ancestors.
My short piece about “listening and learning” at Montezuma’s Well in central Arizona has now been published by the Wildlife Sound Recording Society in its journal Wildlife Sound. The audio accompaniment should be out soon in its sound magazine but, meanwhile a link to listen to below.
Happy to announce the release of Traces of Aulus: Four Soundsketches. These pieces are based on recordings made last summer in and around Aulus-les-Bains, France while at CAMP. As the project evolved, they came to be sonic mediations on the effort of memory-(re)making and remembering. Available now via Bandcamp and, shortly, all the usual digital streaming services.
Big, warm thanks to New Adventures in Sound Art in South River, Ontario for an inspiring and invigorating immersive field recording workshop on its beautiful Warbler’s Roost property at Deer Lake. So enjoyed meeting everyone and hearing how these artists engaged the rich soundscape around us. Please check out some of their work at marymcdonald.ca, @juliawhitesculpture, @adamartdump, patriciodavila.com, johanneszits.com, hcenteno.net, antonpickard.com, Victoria Fenner. Particular appreciation goes to Darren and Nadene Copeland for making it and NAISA possible.
So grateful that two selections from soundscapes from a desert suburb (“bridge (daybreak)” and “park (twilight)” were recently featured on the 04/27/25 edition of framework. Have a listen to this and every edition of framework, which always a gift to your ears.
My sound art composition with Vienna’s Evamaria Muller (@gmorrk) is featured in the new digital edition of the Austrian arts and culture magazine, komplex. Appropriately, the group publishes a year-end print publication called, komPOST. Eva and I continue to work on our broader compost project and just finished up our second piece for what we expect will be release towards the end of 2025, early 2026. Thank you, komplex!
Happy to announce that my soundsketches of a desert suburb releases on Feb 3, 2025. This release has been a long time in coming! It will be available on Bandcamp and all the usual streaming services.
Great day removing legacy barbed wire with Desert Fence Busters. This is a powerful collaboration among Arizona Fish and Game, Friends of Ironwood National Monument, and many other local partners to create wildlife corridors in the Sonoran Desert. The seven teams, with 48 total workers took down about 2.5 miles of unused fencing. Tucson Audubon Society also capped 52 "death pipes.” A local rancher removed most of the t-posts on which fencing was strung.
Photo credit: Suzanne Fallender
I had a wonderful time visiting family on Cape Cod over the holidays. Quiet (and COLD) beaches meant quiet time to record. Hopefully this stuff will find its way into some future projects.
I am happy to report that my internet radio station, Sonoran Soundcapes, is now live and available for 24/7 streaming. For now, it is being hosted by Radio.co and can be heard via the player on this website. It’s going to be a permanent work in progress, I think, as I add more content and consider ways to expand its reach. But, for now, it’s here and existing.
We had an incredible afternoon with Gary Beverly, chair of Citizens Water Advocacy Group, hiking around and learning about the Big Chino Watershed and the Upper Verde Wildlife Area, hosted by Prescott’s Natural History Institute. No one has done more to help protect the Upper Verde and a sustainable water supply for Arizona than Gary. He is really remarkable. Focus today on the amazing efforts to designate the Upper Verde as a “wild and scenic” river, as much of the section below Beasley RAP and Horseshoe Dam is. The Verde needs our help — without conservation and attention to overdraft from the aquifer, the Upper Verde will likely go dry within three decades.