Pat Thomas, a native of Agona, in the Ashanti Region was born to a father who was a music teacher and a mother who was a bandleader. Pat has always been in love with music from an early age, and he learned a lot of band organization and music writing from his uncle Onyina who played with Nat King Cole, Miriam Makeba, Ray Charles, and Ella Fitzgerald.
It was during his stay with his uncle that he learned how to play the guitar and drums. In the early 70’s he came to Accra to join a band known as the Blue Monks under the leadership of Ebo Taylor. This was the resident band of Tip Toe Nite Club.
It was during one of his shows that one Caucasian lady who was in attendance fell in love with his voice and signed him up to go to Ivory Coast to form a group called The Satellites. He later came to Ghana to form the Sweat Beans Band and that became the band of choice during the Kutu Acheampong Era.
Pat was crowned Mr. Golden Voice of Africa in 1978 and at the same time won the ECRAC award of the year. In 1991 he also won the Album of the year with his “Sika Ye Mogya” song.
Pat moved to Europe and played in almost every city in Europe with his band the Anabos. Pat moved to London, then to Canada where he lived for ten years. Pat is now residing in Ghana and can proudly boast of 15 albums to his credit. His musical jeans have rubbed off onto his children and his daughter, Nana Yaa is one of the best female vocalists in Ghanaian music.
Awards
In the year 2015, Pat Thomas and Kwashibu Area Band’s self-titled album was listed by AllMusic as one of the “Favorite Latin and World Albums”.
