Jerry J. Thomas is an old cat from Ohio who’s played and co-written songs with so many country music greats it’s insane! The prolific singer-songwriter lets it out all in his Drooble interview, starting from his music-filled childhood all the way until he got to hit the fabled Ernest Tubb Midnight Jamboree stage. Busy working on a concept album full of original acoustic guitar music, Jerry found the time to walk us through decades of playing country music, penning songs with with the genre’s greats, and celebrating his love of the art. Gather ’round, folks!

Hello! Tell the world about yourself. How did you grow up to become the musician you are today?

I taught myself how to play the guitar starting at around 9 or 10 years old. I had always had a love for music since before I could remember. And I also had grandparents and uncles that were extremely musical and when we would all get together at my grandmother’s house it would always end up being a fantastic musical meeting. These jam sessions would often last into the wee hours of the mornings. And on those nights I never fell asleep. To me it was just magical… I was probably only four or five years old when I started remembering these shin digs.

And being born in Ironton, Ohio never hurt either, as so many of the country music greats come from around a 75 mile radius such as Bobby Bare, Cowboy Copas, Ricky Skaggs, Keith Whitley, Hawkshaw Hawkins Sr, Darrell McCall, Johnny Paycheck, Diane McCall, The Judds, Tom T Hall, etc… it was just a musical melding pot of genres and great artists. I was really blessed to have been born in that part of the country with all these magical sounds and influences. Today, I try to put a little bit of all of that into my music.

Introduce your current musical projects and tell us what makes each one special for you!

I have been blessed enough to have recorded 4 albums so far in my career. The first was called “My Favorite Country” which was just a CD full of cover tunes we would give to family and friends. The past 3 “From Tennessee To Texas” in 2012, “Road To Hope” in 2015 and “Heartbreak Highway” in 2016 are albums that I wrote a lot of the tunes on as well as c-owrote some as well with great writers such as Little David Wilkins, Diane McCall, T. Graham Brown, Mike White, B.J.Mezek, etc.

To be able to write with folks like this was and always will be a great honor and learning experience for me. I have always enjoyed the art of writing a song and have been a very strong supporter of the songwriters. So this just came natural to me. The newest project I am working on now is kind of a concept album… I plan on doing an all-original song acoustic multi genre-type CD. I am writing and co-writing the tunes right at this time. I really can’t wait to complete this one and have the fans listen to it. I believe it will be my best project to date!

You have been playing music for a long while! How do you find the drive and inspiration to keep going all this time?

Let’s see, I was taught at a very early age from my Grandfather. He would always tell me if you do something that you love to do that you’d never work a day in your life… I find that to be very true. My love and passion for music has been going strong for over 40 years now. And I still have a passion for it. It is my life. As for inspiration, all I need do is look at one of my guitars. Picking one up and hearing the tone of the wood and the steel and the beautiful melodies that comes from within each guitar is all the inspiration I need, really. To me, a guitar is like a child in a way, each one has it’s very own sound and personality. And folks, it can’t be any more beautiful or simpler than that.

How is your local music scene in your perspective? Do you feel like you belong there?

The local music scene here where I live today I have really not been a huge part of until lately. I started hosting a singer/songwriter show each Friday night at a coffee shop in Crossville, Tennessee, called Grinder House Coffee Shop. We have been bringing in well-known songwriters as well as supporting some of the regional ones. It is my way of being able to pass it on to younger songwriters and a way to thank music for being so good to me. My partner Asa and Angela as well as Rod, Jack and Mark, George that are all a part of the show and my band Rock Hill Railway are so excited to be able to present great artists and songwriters in the way that the old coffee shops of the 1950’s and 1960’s were able to do.

To me that is so important, not only to the folks that come and watch the shows but to those folks that listen to our live radio broadcast. I is going back to where “It starts with the Song”… you never know where that next hit record or the next Bob Dylan or John Denver or Jim Croce is going to come from. All three of them got their starts in coffee shops as did Peter, Paul and Mary and so many more… so, in that aspect, I am hoping to be a leader on my local scene by offering something the town has never had on the level that Grinder House Coffee Shop and Jerry J. Thomas’ In The House Singer/Songwriter Show has been able to do since we started!

What is your all-time favorite record and how did it change you as an artist?

My all-time favorite record has to be “Eat A Peach” from the Allman Brothers Band. Just the sheer talent of the music and the magic created by those guys is just perfect. Of course, I also love Tony Rice “Sings and plays Lightfoot” as well… my top 5 albums overall were by and maybe not in any certain order but 1.Eat A Peach 2. Tony Rice “Sings Lightfoot” 3. Willie Nelson “Red Headed Stranger” 4. Nanci Griffith “One In A Blue Moon” 5. Doug Supernaw “Red And The Rio Grande”.

All 5 of these albums to me are musical masterpieces. I know I could name several more musical masterpieces by songwriters and artists I admire, but it would take me several days to do that. But the five I have mentioned are five that touched my heart and stirred my soul and still do ’till this very day each time I play them. But folks like Guy Clark, Dean Dillon, Steve Earl, Kate Wolf – man, they are just so very special as writers and artists to me!

What are your favorite software and hardware tools for music production?

I still love analog recording myself. But as for the things we use in the recording studio, I leave that up to my producers Gary Clardy, Pat Grogan, DeWayne Wagner. All three of these guys are great with their visions and choices .I hope to someday work with another dear friend of mine, Mr. B.J. Mezek. He is the producer on Doug Supernaw’s newest project “Greatest Hits” that came out on April 1st, 2017. B.J. has a great knack for making a great record as proven by Doug’s greatest hits with two brand new songs. Hopefully, he will be able to do that sometime down the road.

We have written a couple songs together and his publishing company handles my songs as well. He has been managing Doug Supernaw the past couple years and he is getting married soon to a beautiful girl whom my wife Jaye and I love dearly, we call Ms.Shelley. So a little down the road I can see things settling down enough for him where he may be able to work a project with me. I look forward to that day for sure!

What is your songwriting process like?

My songwriting process is simple..I do not try to force things to happen. To me anyway I think it takes away from the song or the story that you are trying to tell. A lot of times I will just pick up my guitar and start playing it then a melody comes into my head and I play that until I feel it is finished and then I come back and write a story to the melody. Now that is how I write by myself.

As for co-writing with someone, I love that because you can bounce ideas off the other writers’ and yourself..Either way I love writing and creating new songs. Most of the songs I write myself come pretty complete as in they are done within a few minutes or so. I have had some co-writes where us writers took over a year to finish a song. So with me personally I have no set way that a song is created. I have some very well known co-writers I have written with that writes 4 or 5 songs each day and have for years. They have trained themselves to do that.

So, to the aspiring songwriter, I just say do what you are comfortable with. And always carry an MP3 or micro recorder with you so when you have lyrics that come to mind, put them down on that recorder so you do not lose the song idea.

Out of all the live shows you played, which one was the most memorable, and why?

My most favorite live performance had to be the very first time I ever played The Ernest Tubb Midnight Jamboree. They have that show archived and man, am I so honored. My dear friend and one of my co-writers, Ms. Diane McCall, asked me to join her that night as she was hosting the show.

When she called and asked me and I walked onto that stage that so many legendary performers have performed on, I was so humbled. And Mrs. Ray Price was in the audience as well and I got to meet her and tell her from the stage just how much her late husband’s music had touched my life and she responded by blowing me a kiss – what a magical night that was!

I have since played the ETMJ a few times now and each one is very special to me. But that very first night will always stand out to me. I also loved doing the jamboree one Saturday night with one of my songwriting heroes’ nephew. I Love him and Ms. Dottie dearly!

What is your biggest musical goal?

My biggest goal is to keep making good music and promoting younger artists and singer/songwriters. And I would love to tour the UK with my wife musically… I have always wanted to play my music for the people in Ireland and the U.K., as well as Japan and Australia, and maybe Europe as well. I believe that the people over there would relate to my music and myself. And I would love to meet them… and to meet Foy Vance would be awesome as well He is one of the great new songwriters out of Ireland going today. Just to meet him and get to know him would be a blessing in itself. As would meeting Charlie Longborough…

How has being on Drooble helped you as a musician?

I believe Drooble is the best thing to happen for an independent artist, songwriter, or musician in years! This should have happened years ago. For me, personally, I love the way it promotes all of us, as well as puts a lot of us together with fellow artists and musicians and songwriters. I love the way it provides all the latest updates, news and gadgets to us. I honestly believe in the future Drooble will be a megasite of musical information and promotion for all of us artists that are smart enough to sign up for it. Thank you, Drooble, for being my very favorite way to promote and to keep abreast of all the latest musical happenings going on! I LOVE AND SUPPORT DROOBLE and always will… I will forever be in your debt. Thank You and God Bless.