It's now a bit more affordable to get your hands on a Thrush Holmes. On Friday night, Holmes and his band played to a packed gallery to celebrate the launch of their first CD - Every Million Golden Universe. Priced at an artist-friendly 10 bucks, the inaugural musical effort features six tracks including Another Night W/O Fire and Dancers + Lovers, both of which can be streamed on MySpace.

For a guy who's spent years applying paint to canvas, Holmes seems to be following in the footsteps of many artists before him who get the itch to branch out beyond the discipline for which they're most known. And based on the reaction from the crowd who descended on the Empire, he just might have all the encouragement he needs to keep at it. At first take, I'd say he sounds strongly influenced by fellow Canadian Neil Young, who coincidentally also happened to have a gig in the city the same night.

For an earlier video version of Holmes' musical efforts (posted to YouTube six months ago), take a look at the below:

Every Million Golden Universe is available for purchase at Thrush Holmes Empire. I believe only 200 copies have been created so this is definitely what you might call a collector's item.