Born in Louisiana on December 21st, 1939, Ural Thomas is a singer, songwriter, community activist, and clothesmaker. A Portland resident since he was five, Ural’s music career spans over 50 years of live shows and DIY recordings turned into cult classics. A dear friend of the label, Ural’s releases with Mississippi Records include three 7-inches and an LP, ‘Ural Thomas & The Pain.’ In celebration of Ural’s 85th birthday, Cairo Records and The Albina Music Trust released, in January 2025, ‘Nat - Ural’; a giant tribute to the artist that spans recordings made between the late 80s and early 90s. A firm believer in being in the moment, Ural spoke to Mississippi’s own Maria Barrios about the new album, his famous mesh suit, and remaining faithful to yourself and others.

Maria Barrios: Hi Ural. How was your day?

Ural Thomas: I was running errands and doing little odd jobs. I help people all the time when they need something that they can't finish themselves.
So I'm like a handyman, ‘cause a handyman can!

MB: What sets Portland apart for you?

UT: Well, people are more like family to me. They got their hearts in the right place. Even when the ugly comes and takes over, it can't take over the people. Everybody is kind of orientated to ‘follow the leader.’ But the people that I run around with, they're just like my family. They don't get no better than that to me.

MB: That’s great. How do you remain positive, and how do you take care of your family when things get bad?

UT: I've never really worried about something like that because I've always taken care of myself. Before that, when I didn't have what I needed, I had faith in people and I had faith in myself. I was never a downer. Even when things was bad, I always managed to find the strength. And just being myself, I never really expected anything from people. Things go in a big circle in life, and they go around, and sometimes you have to be able to accept the bad as well as the good because it's all a lesson of life to me. That's how I look at it.

MB: How do you remain faithful to yourself?

UT: There are people who try to change you sometimes with questions, “How can you do that? Or how can you be so happy when things are going so wrong in the world?” I don't try to control the world because everybody has control of their lives. And the world is made for all of us.

I still manage to find positivity in all those things, the good and the bad, because we are all one on this planet. And until people really understand it, we have to respect each other's ideals and their ways of thinking. Even thinking about what's going to happen tomorrow because it's not promised to any of us.

So to me, the most important thing is the moments right now. That's the way I feel, I really believe that because tomorrow is not. That's not ours, but this moment is.

MB: Speaking of that, in a conversation with Eric [Isaacson] you said you were “raised to believe that the only thing that's important is right now.” In that word, “raised,” there are the actions and presence of people who were around you. Your family, etc. Why do you think that was important to them?

UT: My father was the kind of a person that he'd give you his heart if he could, if it was going to help you. My mom, she was the very same way. And when they separated, my mom and dad, they had problems like everyone else. But to this day, I know they're in heaven and they're still friends. My grandmother was like that too, and I loved sharing and learning the things that they had experienced way before I was born.

Later, I experienced a lot of the things that I didn't understand when my grandmother was telling me about—experiences that she had when she was a little girl. I just always kind of weigh them out sometimes. I didn't understand when I was younger, but they never gave me a question that I couldn't enjoy or learn from. It was always very positive.

As I grew I had friends that was always older than me. I used to love just sitting around and listening to the old folks tell stories of their past, their promises to their loved ones, their downfalls, and their disappointments. They all had pretty much the same kind of story. But the most important thing to me was there was always some laughter.

There was always a way to make the most miserable thing into a little laughter because it was in the past, and you couldn't bring the past back, and you can't predict the future. So those are things that I enjoy listening to and hoping one day I would be able to share.

MB: How does that reflect in your music?

UT:  I've always been a very musical person. I think that my life was kind of based on that because my mom was very musical. I can remember the things that she told me about myself when I was a baby.

I was in this little basket sitting under the bench as they sang. And I listened and it just became a part of me. So one day I was in the kitchen and I was just singing a song. I was about 7 or 8 years old, and I was just singing the songs that have those lyrics that have meaning to everyone, like (sings) “If I could hear my mother pray again, if I could hear her tender voice again, how happy I would be, it means so much to me if I could hear mama pray again…”

I was in the kitchen washing dishes, and I was singing that. My mom, she says “I didn't know you knew that song.” And we laughed. I said, “Mom, I don't have a clue where that comes from. I just open up my mouth and the words just kind of come out!”

Sometimes the songs just pop out and if I can remember it the next day or if I can write it down, and get a good note that makes someone smile or feel good about themselves—it’s a magic we all possess. When those two things come together between any two people, it's always very positive. We lift each other up. People lift each other up.

MB: I was listening to your song, “Good Vibrations” earlier today. Can you tell us how that song came to be?

UT: Sometimes you never really know what another person is thinking, but you can always tell when they have good thoughts. That's where the song “Good Vibrations” came from.

You probably just looked at someone. Doesn't have to be a lover. It didn't have to be a friend. They just have that smile on their face that makes you feel warm inside. I couldn't even begin to explain it. It’s just a feeling. Like when you walk and you see a baby and his mom. Maybe she's pushing him in the carriage and the baby's just kind of kicking his legs along as she walks, and she's pushing the carrier and then looks down, she says, “What's up, babe?” [laughs] I just can't explain that any better than that.

MB: That is a great description! December 21st was your 85 birthday, right? How was that? [Note: on December 21st, 2024, Ural was presented with the key to the city of Portland, and celebrated at a sold-out show with his band at Revolution Hall]

UT: We had these couple of brothers that have opened up and done shows with us at different times and places. So they knew me, and they were always pulling jokes from me. We had this great big invitation cake that I was supposed to jump out of, but it didn't work out. So they said, “Let's just roll a cake out there, and what we'll do is while you're coming out, we'll take a big baseball bat and we'll just batter the cake!” So that's what they did. I said, “Hey man, what you got to do to my cake!?” But from there we just took off and they sang Bob Dylan's tune “Forever Young.” Boy, that was another great feeling. All the guys and the audience hummed it too and it was just so wonderful.

MB: Going back to your new record, Nat - Ural, I really dig “It Ain’t Easy Being Green.” Can you tell me about that song?

UT: I was doing that song because I was green. I was just stupid. Green is what I called myself. There was this kid who had just moved here from Germany, and he was saying, “Hey, that's a Kermit the Frog song.” I said, no, that was the way I was. I was green. At one time in my life, I just trusted everybody. I gave them all of my trust. I gave them all of my love and then they turned around sometimes they did me some dirty stuff. 

So I kind of took the idea from Kermit the Frog, but it made me think about myself. When people say, hey, you're green at this, aren't you? About some things, I think I'm still a little stupid and green, but at the same time, I'm still learning to take my green and turn it into blue. I've always liked the colors blue and green. I just love them. I love all the colors, but those two have been my favorite colors for years.

MB: Talking about colors reminds me of your outfits. The clothes you make for your shows. How do those come to be?

UT: I've always had the desire to be different. When I make stuff and I come off the stage, somebody says, “Where did you get that suit?” Or “Where did you get that hat?” Or “Where did you get those shoes from?, because I would take a material and glue it over the top of my shoes. I'd make them different colors. Sometimes it looked like my shoes and my pants and my shirt and my hat and everything was all one!

One time, when I was in New York City, I found this material store and they had these remnants, that weren't enough to do anything with. And so I'd make a suit out of two different colors. Sometimes I'd take one and make it almost like a dress, like a little skirt and wrap it around me. And then I'd have a tuxedo underneath all that, and when I went onstage, I'd maybe do one song with this wildness on, and then I'd rip the top suit off, and then I'd have on a tuxedo streamlined. And they say, “Oh, wow.” The people were screaming and rolling. They said, “Man, you about the craziest thing I've ever seen!”

MB: I love the photo of you where you're in the bird bath and you have a mesh suit on.

UT: I first wore it at the Apollo, and it was my first tuxedo made out of that. Then after I wore it I started cutting it off and making it the way you see it [in that photo]. It was my first see-through tuxedo. I would always have the idea of being different. I'm going to surprise the people.

MB: I feel you could just make any type of music. What made you choose funk and soul?

UT: People made the names for it. I just would do whatever came from my soul, you know? I had people name songs for me and I would just hang on to it and leave it there.

Like that song, “Deep Soul.” It was one of the first songs that I had done when I was fresh out of high school. They said, “Deep soul. What is that, man?” I said, well, everybody's got a deep soul. That's something that's deep inside of people that they don't know what it is yet until it comes out. And when they finally discover who they are or when they finally discover what they have.

You never know what to expect, ‘cause sometimes you have people out there that are just haters. And when you can make them smile or they can say, “Wow, well, there's no reason to hate this. This is fun,” then that whole thing becomes a reality of hey, there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and the light's going to shine on all of us. And knowledge is one of the keys that come in the light. All the things in the dark come into the light, and there's a brighter and better day when you open up your heart and let it come in.