Album Notes

"Mike Thomas grew up in the rich musical crossroads of East Tennessee, learning, almost literally, at the feet of great local singers and songwriters like Scott Miller and R.B. Morris. He began performing his own material and some covers when he was only 18 in Knoxville bars, including a long-running weekly show at Knoxville's iconic Union Jack's Pub, the bar that helped launch the successful careers of Robinella & the CC String Band and the Mitch Rutman Group.

Even a closer look at Mike's choice of cover music at this early age reveals a maturity in taste and emotional depth that still characterizes his own music today. He chose to cover the songs of brilliant, but tortured writers like Townes Van Zandt and Steve Earle rather than the shallow and flashy music he heard on the radio. He was and still is interested in songs that are concerned with the complexity of the heart and the poignant but awkward ways we both build and destroy our relationships.

"What strikes many people about Mike first is his voice. It is a sometimes raw, sometimes growling, and sometimes tender thing, and it is always utterly sincere. It reveals. It bares. It matches his careful songwriting perfectly, and this is never more evident than it is on his new EP, Headlights and Heartaches. From the sweet longing of "Richmond Girl" to the resolute disappointment of "Mary Anne," these five songs tell of lives and relationships, true love and heartbreak, and they touch on the ways in which both hope and despair define our lives."