Up & Coming New Nashville- Joe Thompson

Joe Thompson is a songwriter and singer who believes in three chords and the truth (whatever the truth may be at the moment.) Brought up among the steel mills and oil fields of Western Pennsylvania by fiercely loyal Texans, it did not take long for a blue collar mentality and work ethic to manifest itself even when it came to music. While the songs of Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard were standard fare in the Thompson household, Joe quickly found a passion for classic rock and roll and the thought provoking lyrics of 60’s and 70’s folk music.

After honing his chops as a trained singer and actor in college, Thompson dove into the gypsy lifestyle of the professional actor. While working as an actor, Joe learned basic guitar and song structure. A turning point came when late one night Joe saw Steve Earle live on television playing “Lonelier Than This.” Earle’s painful lyrics delivered so simply with the perfect marriage of country sentiment and Rock and Roll attitude were so very striking, Joe immediately began writing songs.

Retracing Earle’s footprints, he discovered greats like Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark and others inspired by Earle like Ryan Adams and Wilco. These efforts and inspirations eventually led to Joe Thompson’s 2007 debut LP, The Hunting andThe Hope.

Winning favorable reviews and a warm reception on the Americana radio format, Thompson, an unknown before it’s release, deemed The Hunting & The Hope a moderate success. Looking to make a larger splash, Joe hunkered down, wrote on average a song a week for a year and formed the backing band which is now The Comfortable Catastrophe, and headed back into the studio. The result is Yankee Twang: ten brand new songs released in June.