Brooke Thomas & "thebrooke"

Brooke Thomas, known as "thebrooke" on Youtube was one of the earliest talents I came across on Youtube. I created my first youtube account some time in May of 2007 and heard "thebrooke" in the Fall of that year. For some odd reason, I was looking up wolves and anything related to them that day and stumbled upon a cover called "The Lone Wolf"(Kathleen Edwards). I clicked it since I had nothing better to do and lucky for me I heard something that blew me away. It was just magical. The guitar sounded so raw and her voice sounded like a tortured soul trapped in the guitar. I was curious why the video cut her head out, but it did add to the illusion of the "tortured soul trapped in the guitar". After hearing that cover, I really got into Kathleen Edwards as well "thebrooke". Here's the video. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HthdJDa3tSE

Such an eerie sound, yet so calming. It may come as no surprise that she has a couple fantastic Radiohead covers and a cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Landslide". I went through all her videos quite quickly and was disappointed when I ran out. I googled her, I searched for her around youtube a little more but she was nowhere to be found. Her last cover was uploaded on August 9th, 2007 so I thought she must have given up on youtube, if not something worse. Her eerie yet relaxing sound stuck in my mind and from time to time I'd go through her videos and share them with my friends. When I first picked up the guitar in the Fall of 2010 I even tried to figure out how to play "The Lone Wolf". Thanks to her camera placement, I managed.

So, on May 2nd, 2012 I suddenly saw an upload from "thebrooke". I wasn't sure what I was going to see, but I was most curious. I clicked and waited as a cheesy intro led to a clear video of Brooke Thomas talking about her difficult situation and how she wants to make an album. If you want to know about it, check it out. I recommend supporting any artist who wants to create art. I admit, I was sorely disappointed that the mystery unravelled so unexpectedly. Not only was the mystery shattered but for once I could clearly see her face, which was always hidden or somehow distorted previously. A couple days passed however and she uploaded another video. This time it was a cover, and not any cover, a cover of one my personal favourites, "Society" by Jerry Hannan (though I admit I have a preference for Eddie Vedder's version). Needless to say, the voice was the same and the raw guitar sound was back. Brooke Thomas and the mysterious "thebrooke" melded together in this video. The cover reached out to me and I picked up my own guitar to play the acoustic solo of her strumming. Check out the magic video. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQkGDp1UgCs

That song rings true in my heart I'm really happy that she covered it. Maybe I'll do a cover of it one of these days, come to think of it. So, I urge you to subscribe to "thebrooke" and if you want to, support her in the creation of her album. You can find out all about it on her Facebook page (TheBrooke. The Band.) and on her youtube account. I want to leave you with a sweet original of hers that I admire, called "Wobbly Boat". Here's to the fantastic talent you can find on youtube!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUULSXumYJc

Alex Hamel