Miracle Thomas
- undauntedqueen1
- Sep 8, 2020
- 5 min read
Miracle Thomas is a vocalist, songwriter and producer whose musical roots began at the incredible early age of three, when she sang publicly with "The Gems of Truth Gospel Choir" in her Lynchburg, Virginia hometown. In her early teens she relocated to Washington, District of Columbia and began to write songs and perform in local talent shows. Since the age 13, she has demonstrated her versatility as a songwriter by writing over 800 songs that include a wide variety of genres as Rhythm and Blues, Pop, Country, Alternative, etc. No, you cannot put her in a box!
Through private tutoring and studies in voice and drama, Miracle established a solid foundation for her musical career. She was professionally trained by the late Dr. Napoleon Reed, one of the original cast members in the Broadway Show "Carmen Jones." Since they worked together for 10 years and developed a wonderful relationship, she quite vividly recalls Dr. Reed's inspiring stories of former cast members of color such as Dorothy Dandridge and the obstacles they faced while performing at different venues. She credits him for his strong insight and guidance that continue to keep her keenly aware of the fact that she stands on the shoulders of so many great performers that opened doors and paved the way for her. She concludes, "I am thankful for the ancestors and all those who make it a little easier for me to share my talents." She says, "Dr. Reed's wisdom helped to prepare her mentally as I face the challenges of the competitive music business." Miracle also receives a great deal of inspiration from powerhouses such as Gladys Knight, Patti LaBelle, Randy Crawford, The Emotions, Deniece Williams, Earth, Wind and Fire, The Temptations, Stevie Wonder, Kenny Rogers, Reba McEntire, Dolly Parton, Chuck Mangione, Babyface, BeBe and CeCe Winans, opera singers Denyce Graves and Kiri Te Kanawa, the late Whitney Houston, Phyllis Hyman, Luther Vandross, Bob Marley and her mother's schoolmate and friend Carl Anderson. She explains, "Uncle Carl was very protective and advised me to be careful as I pursued my musical goals." She fondly recalls him saying that she would have to sacrifice a great deal most of the time and be willing to give more than one hundred percent all of the time. As a result of this kind of influence and encouragement, she has won several noteworthy national and international songwriting contests including the 2002 Portland Songwriting Contest “Lost In Love” (Pop Category/First Place), 2001 Unisong Song Contest “I Am The Girl” (Hip Hop/Placed in the top 10% out of over 4,000 entrants), 2001 USA Songwriting Competition “No More” (R&B Category/Finalist), 2000 USA Songwriting Competition “Head Over Heels” (R&B Category/First Place), 2000 Great American Song Contest “You Take My Breath Away” (R&B/Adult Contemporary Category/First Place), 1999 Mid Atlantic Song Contest “You Say You Apologize” (R&B/Adult Contemporary Category/First Place), 1998 USA Songwriting Competition (Undercover Lover” R&B Category/First Place) and “I Want You” (R&B Category/Honorable Mention), 1998 Spree IV Song Contest “You Say You Apologize” (R&B Category/Winner) and “I Want You” (R&B Category/Honorable Mention) and 1995 Billboard Song Contest “Where Will I Go” (R&B Category/Honorable Mention) and “Summer Breeze” (R&B Category/Honorable Mention).
In 1993, Miracle released her first single on an independent local record label; Goff Records, distributed by Liaison. The song was a remake of the hit Go-Go band Experience Unlimited (E.U.) "Got To Be Wherever You Are". She recorded three versions, a ballad, mid tempo and Go-Go mix featuring rapper James Funk and conga player Freeman Milton aka "Go-Go Mickey" from the Go-Go group Rare Essence; produced by Ivan Goff and the late Kent Wood (former members of Experience Unlimited (E.U.)). The song remained on the Top 20 Countdown radio stations: WKYS, WPGC, and WHUR on Kevin James’ syndicated “Slow Jams” (in Washington, D.C.), 92Q (Baltimore, Maryland), and other Urban National radio stations in the Washington, D.C., Richmond, Virginia; Norfolk, Virginia and Power 99 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The song also received tremendous airplay in her hometown Lynchburg, Virginia from WJJS lead by Madd Ladd and Cisco. James T. Jones a music review editor from USA Today said, "I was impressed with the ballad version. It has strong background vocals and the song was written well. I look forward to seeing her perform live." Miracle followed up with another single, "Find Someone New" in 1994. She wrote and produced the song and the late Michael Hughes produced the music and released the song using Liaison as the distributor on Zebra Records. The song did well in the Mid-Atlantic Region. Jeff Redd, discoverer of superstar Mary J. Blige was moved to say, "When I listen to Miracle, she reminds me of the past. Her vocal ability reminds me of Aretha!" Carl "Groove" Martin, former producer and singer of the group "Shai" said, "Miracle has a beautiful voice! She will definitely get the notoriety that she deserves."
In 1996, Miracle sang on the Go Go Remix hit rap group Wreckx-n-Effect’s song “Top Billin’”, the song was produced by Gene Griffin. She also recorded a song with Chris Stokes, the manager and producer of the group Immature. Miracle explains, “Chris was in town (Maryland) for two days; Immature was on tour. We recorded a song line by line with the exception of him letting me do my own thing during the chorus. Working with Chris was exciting and challenging. He taught me a few tricks about production.” In 1999, Miracle recorded a remake “Close To You” with producers Ollen “Tricky Rick” Hopkins and the late Al Johnson from the group The Unifics. I had a good time recording with Uncle Al. He was my music director and he shared his expertise in writing music scores and executing memorable vocal riffs. He will truly be missed!” Among her achievements and accolades are: local talent show winner in The Coors Super Talent Showcase; Camp Springs, Maryland; finals held at The Warner Theater in Washington, District of Columbia (1988-1989). She has opened shows for such great artists as R. Kelly, Jodeci, Mary J. Blige, Father MC, Regina Belle, The Manhattans, The Dells, II D Extreme, Kim Waters, the late Gerald Levert and many others. One of her most influential performances occurred when Miracle appeared before an enthusiastic audience of over 30,000 at Baltimore's AFRAM Music Festival (1992). She also sang the National Anthem to open a Chicago Bulls Basketball Game, when Michael Jordan was starting to a crowd of over 19,000. She has performed and recorded Whitney Houston's hit song "Miracle" and for the very first time, Video Soul (former BET show with hosts Donnie Simpson and Sherry Carter) showcased her as an artist who, at the time, had not officially recorded. Miracle was featured in several magazines and newspapers. In November 1993, she was in the Best of Rap and R&B November Issue written by Jill Greenleigh. In May 1994, she was in the that same magazine following up with a song that she wrote and produced called “Find Someone New”. The song featured comedian Chris Thomas who at the time was on headlining the Def Comedy Jam Tour featuring comedians Ricky Harris and Chris Tucker. Th e song “Find Someone New” was featured in the Billboard Magazine. James T. Jones IV from USA Today reviewed the song “Find Someone New”. Sister 2 Sister Magazine featured Miracle in the April 1994 issue and to top things off Devante’ from the group Jodeci said, “Miracle has the purest voice that I’ve ever heard.” Miracle took time off to take care of her son. He was diagnosed with autism when he was two. She remains dedicated to raising her son and since he's older it's time for her to continue her musical journey. Miracle continues to work steadily and confidently at honing her musical talents, concentrating on further development, and maintaining her unique and highly marketable style.
Website Link: https://miraclethomasmusic.com
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