SEQUIM, Wash. — A woman on the Olympic Peninsula is climbing the Billboard music charts. Jennifer Thomas is a composer and pianist who has a message she's spreading across the country through music.
A concert day at the Thomas household means the husband becomes a roadie, the three kids prepare to work the merch table, and mom is composing a lunch of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
"I tell people that you can do it all, you just can't do it all at once," said Jennifer Thomas. "It's definitely a team effort."
The award-winning musician just hit number three on Billboard's Classical Album chart with her latest release The Fire Within.
"It's incredible," Thomas said. "I was right next to Yo-Yo Ma on the charts!"
Thomas started playing piano at 5-years-old. She would wake up at 6:30 every morning at the behest of her mother. By age 12, she knew music would be her life.
"From that point forward I just practiced my heart out," said the Sequim mother of three boys.
Thomas started out playing music for friends and family. She recorded her first CD in 2007 and was able to get her music on streaming services.
Since then she has racked up dozens of awards, worked with Grammy nominees and tallied billions of streams.
Thomas said her music is anything but traditional classical music. It combines pop and ethereal tones, and she crowdsources money for cinematic videos.
The latest is a fiery spectacle where her piano literally goes up in flames. It's popularity led to a 20 city summer tour that wraps up on Saturday in Bellevue.
"It's been great seeing that people are actually willing to come watch me play, not just stream the music on Pandora," Jennifer said.
At the end of the day, though, it's not about the flashy videos or sold-out shows, it's about the music.
An instrumental called Girl In The Mirror reflects on her struggles with body image and conveys her innermost feelings without a single word.
"It just brings back a lot of memories of years when I didn't have confidence in myself," said Thomas, wiping away a tear. "Now, I do, and that's healing."
It's a musical message of courage, commitment, and triumph from someone who has been through the fire.
