Bethany Tomkins: Headlights & Heartaches
The 2006 CD release from Nashville musician Mike Thomas is like a sentimental journal, cataloguing the hard feelings left by lost loves and missed opportunities for happiness. Its earthiness, twang and instrumental precision combine to make it a solid album. Songs from Headlights fill you with what must be Thomas' own sense of loss; lyrics like "I've been behind the wheel forever / We're not getting anywhere" (from "The Long Road"), and "You can only hear the sound of two hearts breaking / When I turn and walk away" (from "Walk Away") go straight through the ear and directly to the heart. The music and melody is well-crafted, and it plays as large a part in each song as the vocals, which is somewhat unusual, but definitely welcome.
It's clear that he has worked hard to get his music out to the masses, particularly to those of us in East Tennessee. He has appeared on the radio several times, including on 90.3 WUTK FM, the University of Tennessee's student-run radio station. The station's weekly show, "The Y'allternative," proved a particularly good outlet for Thomas to show off his musical prowess, backed by Mitch Rutman and Vince Ilagan (both of The Mitch Rutman Group), and even his own kin, cousin John Adam Thomas. You can certainly hear the influence of musicians like Scott Miller and Ryan Adams, but Thomas' way of singing lends itself to the songs' words and message in a way that only he could really do. He definitely digs into the layers of human emotion, leaving no question as to what he feels, and what he wants you to feel.
Thomas has played some shows here in Knoxville recently, and often collaborates with notable town favorites Mitch Rutman, Ben Maney, and Chad Melton. The first performance by Mike Thomas (a solo) that I was fortunate enough to catch was his CD release party at Union Jack's on Northshore Drive. He'll be appearing there again on July 7th, 2007 at 9pm. For more info, check out his website, MikeThomasOnline.com.