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Sunday, 2 May, 2010 11:18 AM
CMA New Artist Spotlight: 'Josh
Thompson'
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Photo
by Christian Lantry
Josh
Thompson |
| By
Bob Doerschuk |
| ©
2010 CMA Close Up News Service |
Josh Thompson’s
future seemed written in concrete — specifically, in his father’s
concrete business in Cedarburg, Wis., where he began working at
12. Years would pass before Thompson dared to dream about making
music as a livelihood. In fact, he was 21 when he got his first
guitar.
“I really just
intended to play some of my favorite Merle Haggard songs around
the campfire,” he explained. “But I began writing about
six months later. Then it just got into my blood and controlled
my life.”
By the time he got to
Nashville in 2005, Thompson was nurturing a knack for capturing
the nuances of life in a lyric and a tune. After landing a music
publishing deal and making an initial impression by co-writing “Growing
Up Is Getting Old,” the title track of Jason Michael Carroll’s
latest album, with Jeremy Campbell, he built a reputation strong
enough to earn a record deal with Columbia Nashville, which released
a four-song, self-titled digital EP in November 2009.
On his album debut Way
Out Here, set for release Feb. 23, Thompson unveils a double-threat
talent as a writer and performer. Produced by Michael Knox, the
album features 10 tracks, nine co-written by Thompson. The last,
“Sinner,” he wrote on his own as a profession of repentance
tempered by a hint of stubborn pride. Articulated over an understated
but dramatic backup, it rings with a quality of honesty that goes
beyond craftsmanship.
Other sides of life emerge
vividly on Thompson’s first single, “Beer on the Table,”
which he wrote with Ken Johnson and Andi Zack. Using a technique
familiar to Country composers, the song is built around a play on
words that uncovers a new level of truth: Over a stomping, dance-floor
beat prickled by bits of banjo, Thompson runs down his working-man
credo, which adds up to “workin’ hard all week puts
the beer on the table.” And you know from the grin in his
voice that this artist writes and sings from first-hand experience.
IN HIS OWN WORDS
Q&A
DREAM DUET PARTNER
“Lee Ann Womack or Norah Jones.”
CD IN YOUR STEREO
“Satisfied by Ashley Monroe.”
FAVORITE MODE OF
TRANSPORTATION
“My Jeep.”
FIRST GIG
“A bar in Marinette, Wis. It was horrible … long story!”
SOMETHING WE’D
NEVER GUESS ABOUT YOU
“I love cantaloupe.”
MUSICAL HERO
“Merle Haggard.”
BOOK ON YOUR
NIGHTSTAND
“Waylon Jennings’ autobiography and Lone Survivor.”
PET PEEVE
“Lazy people.”
www.JoshThompsonOfficial.com
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