From the Grammys to Champions for Charity, Thompson Tran in tune with helping kids in the ring
By Jeff Hicks
KITCHENER —
Beyoncé, wearing a rose-coloured designer gown and Egyptian goddess earrings, rolled up in a golf cart.
“Right to the front of the red carpet line,” laughed Thompson Tran, recalling his B.C. rock band Splitting Adam’s visit to the 2010 Grammys in Los Angeles.
“All the A-listers. We walked down the red carpet with everybody else.”
Not bad for a lead guitarist and keyboardist — now a chef, high school teacher, entrepreneur and one of Mandy Bujold’s Champions for Charity — whose parents escaped Vietnam in 1979.
Walking the crimson canopy, as a Grammy nominee, with Kenny G and partying at the home of the Canadian consulate general with David Foster, Emmylou Harris and K’naan.
A Langley, B.C. kid who moved to Kitchener in 2017 to expand his sauce business, but mostly for love. His wife Dana grew up in St. Clements.
A first-time boxer at 45, Tran now trains with the Blue Team at Sydfit Health Centre to help the 3rd edition of the Champions for Charity raise a half-million dollars for McMaster Children’s Hospital through MacKids. The big-picture goal is a million dollars over three events.
“I work with kids so I’m very passionate about helping children. I’ll be fighting for them,” said Tran, who teaches hospitality and tourism at Grand River Collegiate in Kitchener.
“That night, April 4, is all about charity.”
And showmanship, like the circus-themed Grammys of 15 years ago.
So Tran’s entrance to The Brawl at Tapestry Hall ring on April 4 may include some Beyoncé panache. Maybe he’ll stroll up to the Splitting Adam video game anthem On My Own, which wails when you conquer the video game Need for Speed.
“You set the tone by what you play when you walk out,” said Tran, who has yet to pick his boxing walkout tune or his ring nickname.
“I want to have fun. Sometimes I’m serious and sometimes I’m not. I think I’m going to be playful that night. I think I’m going to find something that’s totally off boxing-brand.”
After all, he’s toured across Canada, San Diego and LA with the now mostly-dormant Splitting Adam. And the packaging for their 2010 compact disc did net them a big-time Grammy nomination, even though the lamb-to-ape morphing image of combined band members had little to do with their pop-rock music.
The father of two — 14-year-old Greta and 11-year-old Cohen are both great singers — surely won’t be intimidated by the sold-out Brawl crowd of 600-plus and countless online streamers.
“I thrive in those kinds of environments,” said Tran, “I don’t shy away.”
Thompson — like cartographer namesake David Thompson, a name that his mom picked out of an encyclopedia not realizing the last names were first — is a stargazing explorer in spirit.
His local restaurant — The Wooden Boat specialized in Vietnamese Bahn Mi sandwiches — has been converted into a rental commercial kitchen where small food entrepreneurs can test their concepts without breaking the bank account.
Food is one of his passions. Bun Bo Hue is his favourite dish, a Vietnamese beef noodle soup with lemon grass and pork broth.
“Outstanding,” he says, with a chef’s kiss.
So, of course, is his musical acumen. Tran has played classical guitar since he was nine and has a classical guitar performance degree from the University of British Columbia.
Music brought him to the Grammys. But boxing, a sweet science antidote to the work-first chef’s lifestyle and carb-heavy diet, made him healthier.
Tran used to be scared of boxing. Now, jabs, uppercuts and training are his salvation.
“Chefs, by nature, we all seek a little bit of that torture,” said Tran, who admits he suffers a little PTSD when watching The Bear streaming series about a chef’s torment in the restaurant biz.
“Without that uncomfortableness, you never stretch.”
Boxing fits Tran like a, uh, glove.
“I love the intensity of it,” he said.
“I see myself doing this for the rest of my life.”
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