Thom Donovan has been many things. He’s spent years playing in bands, working as a hired guitarist, and as a published songwriter. During the pandemic, he wrote his first novel, which marked the beginning of a second creative life as a writer. Over five solo albums, he’s shape-shifted from garage rock to electronic experimentation to raw and personal songwriting. But his 2021 acoustic-based album Timekeeper revealed something he’d been working toward for a very long time: stripping his music back to only what’s essential. These days, he performs solo with a classical guitar and a few pedals as he reimagines what he wants his life in music to look like. His novel, The Twin Affair, explores identity and place—who we are now versus the people we used to be. And in his latest music, he searches for who he’ll eventually become.
You can find Thom’s music on Bandcamp and all streaming services, and his recent writing online at SongFacts. His writing has also been published by American Songwriter.
As a songwriter, he was published by Kobalt and Nettwerk. Then his music publisher introduced him to a casting agent, which led to a recurring role as a musician on the ABC musical drama Nashville for six seasons. His music has appeared in film and TV (The Good Wife, Body of Proof, various shows on MTV, commercials, and the like).
He’s played shows around the world with John Prine, Brandi Carlile, Robert Plant, Nine Inch Nails, Sheryl Crow, Emmylou Harris, Lucinda Williams, Social Distortion, and others.
In 2013, Thom collaborated with Wyclef Jean from the Fugees, whom he met on the set of Nashville, and the studio experiments led to Thom’s single, “Shipwreck” (feat. Ruby Amanfu).
His indie rock band Lapush performed on Last Call with Carson Daly, and later in 2011, he formed a Nashville-based electronic duo with Kendall Morgan called Rossi, and this song, along with this Leonard Cohen cover, opened Thom’s current chapter with the classical guitar, an instrument he began studying in high school.
And as a guitarist, he’s recorded and toured with Will Hoge, Ruby Amanfu, and Leigh Nash (Sixpence None the Richer).
Thom Donovan 