Music alum Thomas Gilbert to perform at Sundance Festival

(January 17, 2009 - Publication: Columbia WLTX - SC)
Thomas Gilbert, a graduate of Ridge View High School and former student of the University of South Carolina, began working with the independent four-piece a few months ago as the group’s lead guitarist.

Next Tuesday, Radius is scheduled to perform a 40-minute acoustic set at the Sidecar for the official “Obama Inauguration Celebration at Sundance 2009″ at 7:30 p.m., during the festival that started on Thursday.

Everclear frontman Art Alexakis and hip hop guitarist-turned-hitmaker Kevin Rudolph will each follow Radius with acoustic sets of their own, celebrating the president-elect’s inaguration.

Radius was also selected to play a 90-minute set as part of the “Synchronize Concert Series at Sundance,”at the Star Bar during the festival on January 22.

Tickets for the acoustic show on the 20th are $50, while the show at the Star Bar on the 22nd are set at $100.

The band chose to attend the festival after three of their songs were used in the motion picture “Finding Bliss,” an independent comedy about an amateur film director. The film stars Leelee Sobieski, Denise Richards, Jamie Kennedy and Matthew Davis, and it will be featured during the festival, organizers say.

The band will remain in town for the screening of “Finding Bliss” at the Slamdance Film Festival, that runs concurrently with Sundance in Park City.

“Playing with Radius has been an amazing experience so far, and I am looking forward to playing with Kevin Rudolf and Everclear in Utah,” Gilbert said. “This is a wonderful opportunity, and I am excited to see the movie. I’ve never had the chance to hear music that I have worked on played on a movie screen, although I did spend time working with Mateo Messina, a wonderful composer that did the music for the movie ‘Juno’.”

Gilbert completed an internship with Messina, while studying at California State University at Northridge, where he graduated in 2008. After spending two years at the University of South Carolina under a music scholarship, Gilbert spent time as a National exchange student at CSUN, eventually transferring there to pursue a major in Music Composition.

A classically trained pianist, Gilbert performed as a percussionist during his high school and college years at Ridge View and South Carolina, both in Columbia.

Gilbert released a solo EP in the Summer of 2008, entitled “From The South To The West” which is available on iTunes and at his official website: www.ThomasGilbertMusic.com.