Starship lands at Fort Fest Friday

Starship featuring Mickey Thomas will make a stop at Fort William Historical Park for Fort Fest on Friday July 15. Gates open at 5 p.m., and the music will start at 5:30 p.m. Tickets for the event can be purchased by calling the box office at 473.2344

Georgia native Mickey Thomas got his start in music right out of college playing in local rock and garage bands.

In 1974, Thomas joined the Elvin Bishop Group as a backing vocalist, and he eventually took a few turns on lead vocals as well. Mickey's time with the band included vocals on hits like "Silent Night," "Spend Some Time," and "Fooled Around and Fell in Love."

In 1979, the singer moved on to Jefferson Starship (formerly Jefferson Airplane) with the infamous Grace Slick.  In 1985, the band dropped the "Jefferson" and continued on as Starship with Slick and Thomas sharing vocals.

After Thomas joined Jefferson Starship/Starship, the band's next six studio albums were certified either gold or platinum. Thomas has been a part of 12 Top 20 singles with the band, including the No. 1 smashes "We Built This City" (featured above), "Sara," "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now," and "No Way Out." Starship featuring Mickey Thomas released their latest album, entitled Loveless Fascination, in 2013.

“In some ways, this feels like a 70s record. It’s organic, and there’s a real edge to it.”

Mickey Thomas isn’t speaking in a nostalgic sense. The frontman for Starship, the venerable San Francisco band behind several of the 20th century’s biggest pop and rock anthems (“We Built This City,” “Sara,” “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now”) is simply talking about the vibe of his band’s new album, Loveless Fascination, the group’s first studio record in over 20 years and first for Loud & Proud Records.

The band’s new record marks another important turning point for the group, which has one of the most storied histories in Rock’n’Roll.

While forming as Jefferson Airplane in the 1960s, the current incarnation of what is now Starship began in 1979 when Thomas joined Paul Kanter to resurrect JA’s follow-up group Jefferson Starship. (Airplane/Starship singer Grace Slick rejoined Starship in 1981, leaving again in 1988).

The pre-Starship Thomas was best known for his work with the Elvin Bishop Band (“Fooled Around and Fell in Love”).

His powerful, melodic vocals marked a new chapter in the band’s history, helping Starship land a string of hits on radio and MTV throughout the next decade, including “Jane,” “It’s Not Over (‘Til It’s Over)” and the No. 1 hits “Sara,” the Oscar-nominated “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” and “We Built This City,” which newer fans may best know for its placement in the popular musical/movie Rock of Ages.

Thomas credits his musical good fortune, in part, to his first rock’n’roll show: The Beatles. “I saw them when I was 15,” says Thomas. “My friends and I got on a bus, took a six-hour trip to Atlanta and set off on this adventure. Right after, we were like ‘we gotta do this.’

Although Loveless marks Starship’s first full studio album since 1989, the group has remained a popular draw on the road. “It’s a real wide generation of fans out there,” says Thomas. “I’ve seen 12-year olds, 65-year olds and everyone in between.”

For their upcoming tour, the band will mine their deep back catalog — “we’ll play songs from every record I had a hand in,” says the singer, promising early hits like “Find Your Way Back,” as well as a medley of the group’s earliest hits as Jefferson Airplane. And, of course, the new material.

As Mickey gets ready to start a new chapter in a career that has spanned forty years, his voice is on-fire and the music is a compelling blend of then and now.