Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
This band has no press
Discography
My most recent cd is called Just Stop Hating and contains three songs. It can be found at cdbaby.com/thompsongs4 Before that was Breathe which contains some music I wanted to include in a film. Still haven't done the film though. That's at cdbaby.com/thompsongs3 Then there's Mean With A Smile. This cd contains 22 tracks, and if I were a fan, I'd buy this one. That's at cdbaby.com/thompsongs2 All of the above mentioned were recorded this century. There's a double disc containing 30 tracks called Nothingness that can't be found at any website. I'm the only person playing on it so you'd have to really love me to buy it even if you could. But the songwriting overshadows the sparse instrumentation I think. There's another cd called Music For All Centuries which can be found at cdbaby.com/thompsongs And there's music I've recorded which isn't on disc, of course. And a great deal of music that has never been recorded in a studio that I'd love to. About four of my songs have been aired on internet radio at www.isonliveradio.com That's in Australia. Then there's this fellow in Germany called Lord Litter who gave me some airplay. I did a couple of hour-long interviews at artistfirst.com last year. Much of my music from the Mean With A Smile and Breathe cds were aired on those programs. I was heard on the short-wave band in Taiwan a couple of years ago, telling the story of meeting my bride in China. They played a couple of songs I had written about her, among others. And last, but not least, I received a royalty check from BMI for a song of mine that got close to 200 plays on some station in the U.S. The song was called The Gift.
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
I think what sets my music apart from others is the songwriting. I think I know my strengths and limitations pretty well. While I'm not going to bowl anyone over with my instrumentation, I think my melodies are strong and varied. I've always placed more emphasis on melody than say wailing away on intricate lead guitar parts or trying to impress people with my finger dexterity. Sure those things are important but if the melody isn't there, there's no point in getting on stage as far as I'm concerned. I often write the parts for other people to play who can perform it better than me so I don't leave what I don't play completely to chance. I don't mean to say I tell the drummer and the bass player what to do, although I did write the bass part to an instrumental since it was the melody to the song. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention my lyrics. They're pretty damn good, to be honest, so good that they often overshadow the music, I'm afraid. I get a little peeved sometimes when that's all people talk about but I know I shouldn't complain. It's not just that they're well written. It's that nobody else talks about the things I do. I know that seems hard to believe with all the rehash that's out there, but they really don't. Anyway, I'm from Mississippi originally and have been based in Houston for many years. I met my wife in China three years ago (we've been married for two) so I've been to the other side of the world. That's the only country I've been in besides the U.S., however, if you don't count an airport stop in South Korea, so I'm still anxious to see the rest of the world. Would still like to see a lot of the U.S. for that matter. Like a lot of people old and young, my influences start with the Beatles. Even though I was always partial to Paul McCartney, I've come to realize that John Lennon's early Beatle music is my favorite of all. He dominated musically early on and it just couldn't be improved upon. Liked some 80's bands like Squeeze and Crowded House as well. I hate it when people ask me if I like 60's music or 70's music or 80's music though. I liked music from all of those periods and I hated music from all of those periods. Same goes for any time. I guess my favorite music though is the music I've just written because it's fresh and it always gives me renewed hope about everything when I see that I haven't lost the touch and it makes me want to go play those songs in public.
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