Halifax singer-songwriter has song launched on The Launch

The A-List – February 07 A look at the day’s entertainment news in the A List, including a story about Halifax singer-songwriter T. Thomason.

Halifax singer-songwriter T. Thomason became this week's chosen artist on The Launch on Wednesday night.

His song called “Hope” is now available on any music platform and, just like that, Thomason is an overnight success story.

“Oh, I’m feeling really good,” Thomason said in an interview via Facetime. “I'm getting a lot of amazing messages on social media and running around to all kinds of press and different things.”

Different things like bonding with singer Sarah McLachlan, who was born in Halifax.

“I felt calmed by her presence, honestly,” Thomason said. “It is very intimidating of course, but she has an extremely calming presence. She's just a very kind and open person, and that made me feel right at home and able to be there and give it my all.”

Thomason is no stranger to the music scene or to CTV viewers. He had three albums under his belt by the time he was 19, along with multiple East Coast Music Award nominations, but something was missing.

“Being an artist and a musician who's writing my own songs and trying to put out an image and sell it, people can tell when things are fake,” Thomason said in an interview with CTV in February 2018.

At 20 years old, he took some time off of music, christened himself T., changed his pronouns to he/him, and started testosterone hormone therapy -- a process that changed his voice.

“I think this show just taught me to trust people a little more than I was able to before,” Thomason said. “There’s room for all kinds of different people in the world right now and that's a beautiful thing.”

Marie-Mai, one of the celebrity mentors on The Launch, told Thomason on Wednesday: “You take that song and make it a movement. My daughter needs someone like you. This generation needs someone like you. The whole world needs someone like you, OK.”

Thomason wants his music to speak for itself.

“I don't want to be pigeon-holed and I don't want to be labelled unnecessarily,” he said. “I want it to be accessible to anybody who's a music fan and who wants to listen to a great song. But, that being said, I'm always going to be there for my community 100 per cent.”

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Maria Panopalis.