Country, Gospel, Singer & Songwriter
Lois Arlene Thompson started her career as Lois Floyd at the age of 6 when she learned to yodel from listening to Crazy Elmer, a comedian on the WWVA Wheeling Jamboree based in Wheeling, West Virginia. Suddenly everyone took notice and realized Lois, although young, had something special and was a force to be reckoned with, especially when it came to yodeling and singing. This prompted her brother Glenn, to introduce her to Texas Ray and Little Mae who were friends of his who had a country group in New Castle, Pennsylvania. Texas Ray and Little Mae took Lois out to some of their shows and let her sing and got her career a kick start. This was the beginning of a life long love of music and a career that has spanned decades and continues today.
Lois’ dad passed away when she was 4-1/2 due to complications of being in the war. At that time, her oldest brother William became her father figure. William even took young Lois on dates with him before he married his wife Alberta.
In their early teens, Lois and her sister Mary Ethel had learned to play guitar and Mary Ethel learned to play the upright bass. They started an all girl group called (they can't remember what they were called, lol). At that time, Lois's friend Bessie Baker would take Lois and Mary Ethel to their gigs in her convertible car and, their mother always went along because the girls were under age.
Their mother, Mary Floyd, also sewed their matching outfits for all their gigs and was their No. 1 fan. Later on Mary Ethel decided to get married and have children and Lois continued on her musical adventure.
Once Lois's sister departed from the band, that left Lois to pursue her music as a solo artist. One of the things she did was work on the Pine Hollow Jamboree in Sharon, Pennsylvania along with her friend Ginny Caravaggio, a regular, every Saturday Night for quite some time. During this time that Lois was a solo artist, her oldest sister Dorothy and her brother-in-law Cub would take Lois and her mother to the gigs, or, her other sister Jean and her husband Johnny would also pitch in and take Lois and her mother to gigs. So there was no shortage of rides to gigs. The family obviously had great faith in Lois' abilities.
Lois graduated high school and went on to work as a stenographer for the Shenango China Company in New Castle, PA. After Lois worked there for almost a year, she received a phone call that would alter her musical destiny. This phone call was from the famous Abbie Neal from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania who had an all girl group and appeared on KDKA TV. Click Here to Continue Reading about Lois and Abbie Neal and Her Ranch Girls.
Lois currently resides in the Yakima Area where Lois along with Helen Downs, currently work the local Senior Circuit, where they entertain people that cannot get out and see live music such as, residents of senior retirement homes, assisted living communities, nursings homes, veteran functions and much more. This brings light and joy to these people and that fills Lois and Helen's hearts with warmth to be able to share their gift of music with these residents. They love when they get positive feedback such as a gentleman recently came to Lois and Helen and said "You girls brought life to me today". This makes it all worth it!
Lois continues to write and record while Lois' daughter Robin Gibson engineers, records, produces and markets Lois' original music which Helen Downs often contributes to vocally and on some guitar.
You can stream Lois' Music on Spotify, Itunes or any popular digital platform. Alternatively purchase digital download via CD Baby to listen to or save to your computer or device.