ABOUT | THOMAS KOVACS

FROM CORPORATE DESK TO SOLD OUT SHOWS!

The unlikely route from there to here:
At the youngish age of 50, Thomas Kovacs leaves his career as a computer programmer/analyst at a large Canadian corporation to pursue his passion for music full-time.

Highlights along the way …

1991: Kovacs flies to Bahrain in the Persian Gulf to perform for U.S. troops at the height of Desert Storm with the newly formed rock/dance band Sister Moon. Playing every night for five months in the two-hundred person bar of the Cunard Princess influences Kovacs's chops as an entertainer - close to 150 performances later, Kovacs returns to Toronto.

Tyler Viaene, Thomas Kovacs, Chris Taylor-Munro, John Carroll, and Sean Dimitrie together formed Sister Moon

1996: Kovacs begins a five-year stint as the weekly house performer at a restaurant in Toronto's trendy Bloor West Village area. He builds upon the skills learned on stage in the Persian Gulf by singing for audiences seeking to leave their workweek behind for an evening of fun.

Thomas Kovacs performing at the Kiwi Kick in Toronto's trendy Bloor West Village in 1997

2001: Kovacs becomes a 'musician in residence' aboard an Adventure Canada expedition in the Arctic. (In 2023, Adventure Canada wins the top spot in the USA TODAY 10Best Readers' Choice for Best Adventure Cruise Line for the sixth consecutive year!) Between 2001 and 2022, Kovacs delivers his unique entertainment brand aboard twenty-six Adventure Canada expeditions. Guest passengers include Bill "Father Goose" Lishman, Farley Mowat, and Margaret Atwood, with whom Kovacs composes the music to her lyrics for Zodiac Driver. These voyages take his singing talents to Iceland, Greenland, the Northwest Passage, numerous Inuit communities in Nunavut, Baja California, the Galapagos Islands, and the Antarctic.

2009: Kovacs receives the Toastmasters District 60 Best Humorous Speech Award by recounting his hilarious experiences performing for U.S. troops in the Persian Gulf.

2010: With music fiercely pulling at his heartstrings while still enjoying his career as a computer programmer/analyst, Kovacs leaves his corporate desk to become a full-time musician. That same year, he graduates from the online Berklee College of Music with a Songwriting Specialist Certificate.

Kovacs with two-time Grammy nominee and his Berklee lyric/songwriting instructor, Shane Adams

2013: Kovacs moves from Caledon back to downtown Toronto where he now lives with the lady of his life, Cara. That's when he's not living in his car driving to and from shows in Barrie, Orangeville, Sauble Beach, Mississauga, Prince Edward County, Uxbridge, and Pickering!

2016: Kovacs's heavy singing schedule eventually takes a toll on his voice. He undergoes surgery on his vocal cords with the same otolaryngologist who, in 2005 performed a similar operation on Jim Cuddy of Blue Rodeo. For the several months following the successful surgery, Kovacs learns proper vocal technique to avoid injuring his cords again. Joyfully he regains full use of his voice.

2020: COVID-19 hits. In person bookings dry up. Kovacs pivots and creates a weekly show on his Facebook page. Fans tune in from all over the world. Along the way, he writes a new song every week!

2022-2023: Kovacs returns to in-person performing, booking a blend of private events, restaurant and pub gigs, and soul-rewarding time-outs to write new songs. Life is good!

THOMASKOVACS