Musician/Artist

Mikala started playing the piano by ear at the age of three. His mother
was not aware of his gift of music until the neighbor told her of this. He heard his first song, “When the Saints Go Marching In” on the radio and began to play what he heard. Mom heard him and knew he had the talent to continue. She began nurturing his music by singing more songs such as “Alley Cat”, “Cab Driver” and more. She began giving him a nickel for every song that he could repeat back.

Piano lessons started when he was in the second grade living in Lincoln, Nebraska and Mikala found that he could sight read quickly. His love for music then brought him on the path of percussion including xylophone, marimba and vibraphone.

Throughout his high school years Mikala performed in concert bands,
wind ensembles, jazz bands and marching bands. He performed his first xylophone solo in the eighth grade [Rimsky-Korsokoff’s “Galloping Comedians”] and received his first standing ovation. He then took on the task of Paul Creston’s Suite for Marimba and Orchestra performing with the Fargo-Moorhead Symphony. During his University years he worked with the likes of Doc Severenson, Buddy Rich, Steve Fisher and many more talented international artists.

Mikala has performed in almost every state in the USA and throughout
the Canadian provinces.

He spent the last 24 years working as an Executive Creative Director
for such companies as Target Stores, The Disney Store, Wal-Mart, Metro Goldwyn Mayer, Coca-Cola and more. His creative work has been published in Communication Arts, AIGA, Prints Regional Design Annual, Buttenpapeirfabrik Award for Printing, and A Decade of Type. He also received a Clio for his design work with Target Stores.

Mikala lost his mother to cancer in 1996 and chose to celebrate
her life through a non-profit organization called, “Caps for Cancer.” The
organization worked with knitters from around the USA that donated their time and talent to making hand-knit caps that were distributed to those that lost their hair to the chemotherapy process.
Mikala Logan Thomas' current music can be heard at MikalaLoganThomas.bandcamp.com/music.

This is a short compilation of music that shows his range of work. (The recordings are a test captured from an iPhone. Studio time is currently being arranged for his first solo CD.)

He teaches piano and percussion in Hilo, Hawaii as well as performing at local restaurants and cafes. For lesson and booking information please contact him directly at 808-936-1061.

He is currently completing a book that chronicles his life to date and his artwork has been displayed in museums throughout Minnesota and the U.S..

He currently resides in Hilo on the eastern side of the Island of Hawai’i.

STYLES: Jazz, Classical, New Age, Pop, Broadway, Standards, New Music

"To laugh often and much, to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children, to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends, to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch...to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded!"
- Emerson