Joe Thompson

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Joe Thompson’s debut LP, The Hunting and the Hope, is like summer in a small town; a smooth refreshing cocktail of country, folk, and rock and roll. But there’s also a hint of New York City attitude in these 11 songs that come straight from the gut of an exciting new singer-songwriter. Using the concrete canyons of New York City and the blue-collar values of his native Western Pennsylvania as a backdrop, Joe Thompson combines a passionate, lyrical urgency with toe-tapping rhythms, wide-open hooks and lilting melodies. With the help of Brooklyn’s Galuminum Foil Productions, the songs on the Hunting and the Hope unearth the melancholic details of love, loneliness and yearning, all from the vantage of a well-worn bar stool. Thompson gives us a glimpse into the ghost memories of disappearing yesterdays, where bottles of Rolling Rock are just $1.25 and time’s unrelenting march never obscures the hope of nostalgic dreamers.

While some of the songs on The Hunting and the Hope can be singled out to a specific genre, most of these tunes borrow generously from the country and folk traditions with just enough rock and roll to keep the mix spicy. With a voice that draws comparisons to greats like Marty Robbins, Gordon Lightfoot, and at times, The Man in Black, Joe Thompson leads a band that swings as hard as a coal-burning iron horse that’s running out of track.

Each song on The Hunting and the Hope has sturdy legs, but the third and fourth tracks, “Another Year ‘Round the Bend” and “Sideways,” respectively, stand out as natural selections for radio airplay. “Another Year ‘Round the Bend”, a raucous duet with Austin, Texas singer, Julie Foster, sports a mile-wide open hook, sparkling harmonies and a chorus that find’s it’s listener singing along long after the songs has ended. “Sideways”, a mid-tempo number with infectious swing, finds Thompson’s voice shimmering in it’s narrative of late night conversations amid coffee stains and cigarettes pleading for his intended to see that the better part of living is, in fact, living itself.

Contact: Joe Thompson; info@baldjoey.com