Thomas Hinds (May 2024)

Living in the Limelight

In a music industry aching for authenticity, Thomas Hinds is a hard-touring troubadour surviving on raw talent and a heartfelt folk-rock repertoire. His exquisite third full-length Where Do We Go From Here, recorded at Alabama’s legendary FAME Studios (Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding etc.), has him poised to gatecrash the mainstream. “I want people to get a sense of comfort from my music, knowing that they’re not alone,” he mulled during a roadside pit stop. “There’s always hope, and there’s beauty even in hard times.” Like most great artists, Hinds’ work is largely autobiographical. It’s simply him: his heart and his life experience laid bare. A songwriter since age 16, he put music on hold when he married young and prioritized parenthood. When the relationship fell apart, Hinds plunged into a dark chapter when only an ultra-prolific, pent-up return to songwriting kept him going. With his kids grown, Hinds began planning to become a full-time touring musician. Following warm receptions for his 2015 debut album Ghosts and Lamentations and follow-up EP Barbwire Bouquet, he hit the road in earnest in 2019 and soon was playing almost 150 shows a year. Noting that many of the wineries, distilleries, festivals, and house parties he plays were within a 5-hour radius of Atlanta, he gambled on a move from New Mexico to north Georgia. “I just stepped off the ledge and things just came together to make it happen,” Hinds recalls. “That was confirmation that I was doing the right thing.” Also an author, Hinds’ poetic soul infuses the blues-based Americana that scales new heights on Where Do We Go From Here, which he self-released in June 2023. Recorded with producer Spencer Coats at the storied FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, the album features an A-list band led by former Bonnie Raitt guitarist Will McFarlane and steel guitar from longtime Garth Brooks bandmate Bruce Bouton. “I often had the hair on my neck standing up or a tear in my eye, because I was listening to something that had been in my head for years, but I just couldn’t explain,” he recalled. Hinds is supporting Where Do We Go From Here with evocative video content, showcases at SXSW 2024 and, of course, more countless miles in his trusty van. As he converts fans one-by- one, show-by-show, his hard-fought career is already a success by its very existence. “I always want there to be a silver lining at the end of things,” he concluded, recalling an epiphanous evening drive. “I was in the southern Pennsylvania hills, windows down, in that golden light. And I’m thinking, man, I would never in a million years have imagined this!”