Photo by Cora Nimtz
Thomas Dollbaum’s songs are intimate while carrying weight, drawing comparisons to artists like Justin Vernon (Bon Iver), Damien Jurado, Richard Buckner, and Arthur Russell. A poet with an MFA from the University of New Orleans, Dollbaum brings the same careful attention to language into his music – quiet, understated, but deeply affecting. Though he makes his living in construction, songwriting is his true vocation. Recently signed to Philadelphia’s Dear Life Records, he’s just released the Drive All Night EP, a collection that blends acoustic and electric folk textures with the kind of songwriting that works whether he’s performing solo or with a full band. Dollbaum isn’t directly part of the Asheville scene surrounding Wednesday and MJ Lenderman, but his friendships and collaborations with artists in that orbit – Jake Lenderman, Colin Miller, Frank Meadows, members of Friendship – hint at the connective tissue that runs through today’s indie landscape.
While the intent of our call was to discuss the EP, our conversation unfolded less like a formal interview and more like catching up with a friend at a bar or coffee shop. As Dollbaum mentions, the Drive All Night EP is a precursor to a full-length coming in 2026 at which point I’m hopeful for a follow-up conversation.
It sounds like the EP wasn’t all done in one sitting or one session but, rather, that you spent most of 2023 working on it.
THOMAS: Yeah, I was with another label at the time, and they were trying to get me to do another record with them, and we just didn’t really see eye-to-eye on how to go forward. After that, I just took my time. I had about 10 or 12 demos done that were good, and I just picked through them and felt out what I liked and worked on them. I think I did it in two sessions, basically. I was working with my friend Clay Jones, who recorded everything, and we just sort of built them out over different sessions. I did all the tracks acoustic first, and then had a drummer and a bass player come in. I played bass on some of the stuff. It was mostly me and Clay. It was a fun process. It was just a slower process because I was figuring out what I was going to do.
Is the EP a transition, then, into the next chapter?
THOMAS: I have an LP coming out next year. Basically, I had a whole record done, and I wasn’t happy with some of the songs. I felt like it felt better with these six as a more intimate EP. The other songs were more full-band production, and they just weren’t really coming together for me. I didn’t think they fit the feel of the EP. I tried to condense the record down to something I really thought was good and strong, and the six songs felt better.
Are there any repeat songs, then, on that full-length? Or is it 10 or 12 new songs?
THOMAS: Oh, that’s all new. I basically wrote two full records and finished both. Then I felt the EP was better suited as an EP with six songs for the feel of it.
I appreciate that you picked 6 songs rather than put out an album where maybe you didn’t feel strong about every song. I love the EP and it leaves me wanting more. My commute to work is about 25 minutes so I can listen to the whole thing which is great.
THOMAS: When I finished it as a whole, I just wanted to put out the best stuff that I had out of that group of songs. I could have maybe tried to re-record, but I don’t really even like doing that. If the songs just didn’t come together, I just let it go. I’m not that precious about them. I think if you get that way, you get stuck. You could be there forever trying to get things exactly right, redoing them over and over. I feel like these six songs fit well together.
You’re a storyteller, a writer, a poet.
THOMAS: Yeah, I got an MFA in poetry at UNO here in New Orleans.
I’ve interviewed Aaron Dowdy from Fust a few times. He weaves names into his lyrics but, as he told me, they aren’t always names of people he knows but, rather, putting names to certain emotions or feelings that he wants to express. He finds that if he humanizes those emotions, it allows the listener to better understand. Do you have any writing tricks like that when you’re writing lyrics?
THOMAS: I try to do something similar. None of it is particularly personal. I don’t think of them as real stories or real things that have happened. I might use real names of people I know, but just in different contexts. I sort of take a memory and build on it, but it has nothing to do with that anymore by the time it’s done.
It’s funny you say that because the songs seem very personal to me. I feel like you’re telling me your story. For you to say they’re not is a true talent to sell it as a story.
THOMAS: Yeah, I guess there are aspects of it that are. The feeling might be personal, but the actual storyline isn’t as much. There’s a kernel of truth, and then I build on it. I always start with a subject, a small memory in my mind, but it’s not really real anymore once I write it. It’s my own thought. I think some people write very personally about their experiences, but I don’t feel that comfortable doing that, even writing like that. I don’t like putting people’s business out there. I think that being specific can also be more universal by including names or places. It can build something for people listening.
I Googled William Duffy, and I found out he was a poet. I like that you take something you’ve read and felt and then turn it into something that’s personal to you, but it’s not a personal story. You’ve taken something out of your life and written around it. I think that’s a true talent.
THOMAS: Oh yeah, that poem I really like. I’ve always liked it, and I thought it was a good fit for the song and the idea. But I don’t normally do that.
You moved to New Orleans in 2015? Your first album came out in 2022. Have you always been a songwriter? Were you playing in bands and writing stuff when you moved to New Orleans? Was this a talent you’ve always had, or was it something that kind of came to you when you went to school?
THOMAS: I’ve always played music. I’ve been playing music since I was a kid, but I never really took it seriously until later in life. I just never thought of it as a real option. It always seemed kind of far away for me to get to. I didn’t have a close community of musicians that I knew in Florida. I had friends I played music with, but it was always pretty casual. I had always been writing songs and working on stuff on my own. Then, I think moving to New Orleans and spending time here, we have a great music scene. It kind of made me be like, “Oh, you can actually go play shows and play around people who are similar musically.” There’s a good community of songwriting and bands here that I felt pretty comfortable with. I was like, “Okay, I should try this out.”
What was that first time like in New Orleans? Did friends of yours say, “I hear what you’re doing. It sounds great. Do you want to come play a show with me?” Or were you cold-calling clubs? How did you get that confidence?
THOMAS: I did a couple of house shows to start. Then people would see me and say, “You should try this,” and I would hit people up to play shows. For the first record I did, a friend of mine, Matt, and I just spent about a year recording music, which was helpful. It all felt pretty natural. It never felt pushed. I just kind of found a good niche where I fit in. I felt more comfortable trying to do music here than in Florida.
I played in bands as a kid, but it was never anything I particularly liked. It was fun, but I wasn’t particularly good. I wouldn’t want to claim it as much now. I was pretty young when I started trying to perform, and that probably helped. It would have been hard to just start at 25 and be like, “Oh yeah, let me try.”
So, between recording the full-length and then the EP, did you take anything away from that first album experience? Did you do anything differently?
THOMAS: The first one took a long time because I didn’t really know what I was doing. I knew what I wanted to do with the songs, but finding the people to play on them and the ideas… I have more confidence now in what I want. I’m pretty comfortable saying, “Yeah, this is good.” I’m pretty easygoing, but for the first record, I wasn’t particularly confident, so I think I spent a lot of time self-doubting. It was nice having my friend Matt help me because he had been doing records for a while. Now, after doing the EP and the LP that’s coming out next year, I feel like I have a pretty good sense of how to do it. Every time, you learn a little bit more, but I think it’s best to keep it as streamlined as possible. The longer you spend on it, the worse it turns out.
How do you know when a song is done? If it were me, I would tinker with it forever. I feel like if you have your own studio and record yourself, it’s a lot harder to know when it’s good enough.
THOMAS: I’ve never really been interested in recording myself much. I like having someone do all the technical stuff. I’ve been working with a four-track tape machine recently, which I like because it’s straightforward. I can demo things out, but I hate working on the computer. So I just prefer to pay somebody to do the setup. There’s so much technical stuff to it. If you’re into that, it could be really cool, but I have no real interest, and anytime I’ve tried, I end up giving up because there are unlimited options. I think it’s best to just make a plan, make the time, get it done, and then that’s it. Don’t worry about it. Some people work that way, though, and it works well for them. I have some friends who self-record, and they’re amazing. They mix it themselves and put stuff out, and it’s cool. I just don’t have that talent.
Your story includes living in Tampa and New Orleans. I know on the EP, you have some people from Nashville who sing and play on the record.
THOMAS: Yeah. They’re just friends of mine. Kate Teague used to live here for a bit and now lives in Nashville. Josh Halper, who played guitar on it, grew up in Nashville, but he’s visited here so much. I’ve known him through friends, and we did a tour together, so he’s a pretty good friend, but he lives in New York now. It’s funny because all these people bounce around so much.
So you don’t really have any roots in Nashville?
THOMAS: No, not really. Not a big Nashville guy.
What about Asheville?
THOMAS: Oh, yeah, I love Asheville. I’ve been there a few times because my parents are planning on maybe retiring there. I’ve gone and visited a bunch, and I really love it. It’s a pretty amazing place. Right now, it’s having a huge influx of people coming out of there that are pretty amazing, out of North Carolina in general. It’s nice to see people in the Southeast getting a little more love. It’s cool to see that creativity blossoms in these smaller places, too.
When I heard your stuff, I just assumed you were from Asheville because you fit into the sound I love from that area. I was surprised that you weren’t from there.
THOMAS: Yeah, I get along with a lot of those people pretty well. It’s not a big network. After meeting Frank (Meadows), and I’m also friends with Friendship, who are in Philly, it’s a pretty small world. Once we met, I was like, “Oh, I love your music.” It’s easy and fun to hang out with those folks. The Fust people, and Sluice, are also really great.
I interviewed Colin Miller earlier this year.
THOMAS: I love Colin. Colin’s super sweet. Colin is amazing, and he’s producing some great music right now. The records he’s been working on are all pretty amazing. The Walker Rider record which is really good. He worked on the Merce Lemon one, too. It’s a nice little community. Everyone’s pretty chill. Colin is super sweet and easy to get along with. They’re just really nice and down-to-earth people.
Jake [MJ Lenderman] wore your shirt in his Tiny Desk concert. Does that lead to more Instagram followers or people exploring who you are? Did you feel that?
THOMAS: Yeah, for sure. It was nice of him to do. I met him up in Asheville about five years ago, right as Boat Songs was coming out. We became fast friends and started hanging out. It’s kind of crazy that now he’s huge. He texted me before the Tiny Desk concert and said he was going to rock my shirt.
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You have tour dates to support the EP? What’s the makeup of that tour?
THOMAS: I’m pretty sure me and Lily Seabird are doing a duo tour. I’m basically going up solo with my buddy Alex playing guitar. We’re going to do a more acoustic set to fit the EP. Then we’ll meet up with Lily in Vermont, where she’s at, and pick up her crew. We might split a band. I might play in her band. I would like to know soon because I need to learn her songs in the next month if I’m going to play bass or something. I think she might play bass, and we might do a full band. It would be kind of fun. We did a run together on the West Coast that was super fun. I had a full band, she had a full band, and we all got along really well. We wouldn’t be able to do two full bands again. It’s just not worth it financially. But if we shared a band, I think that would be kind of fun.
Seems like the only way for artists to make money is selling merch on the road.
THOMAS: I think it’s harder if you’re a full band. When I go on full band support, I usually am in the red every time. If I go solo, you can kind of make it a little bit easier because the guarantees are smaller. If you’re a smaller artist, maybe you’ll get $250, maybe $500 if it’s a really good guarantee. If you’re by yourself, that’s doable. That’s not a bad wage. But if you’re a full band, that’s four members splitting $200. Not even including gas, you basically have to sell 10 or 15 t-shirts a night to make it work. It’s a tight budget. It’s not always easy to make money.
And you probably have to think about what sort of merch you take with you because the goal is to sell as much as you can. If you have any t-shirt designs, for instance, that are too crazy, you’ll wind up not selling very many.
THOMAS: I’ve been thinking about that, actually, trying to figure out good merch that’s different than t-shirts, because I do get what you’re saying. I don’t really buy t-shirts. I mean, I’ll try, but it’s tough for me to go out and spend $30 on a t-shirt every show, plus the ticket and drinks. You’re looking at $100 a night to go out for shows. So I’ve been trying to think of some other options for smaller stuff. I guess posters don’t really seem to do it. Something in the $10 or $15 range. I did stickers for a while, but people assume stickers are free a lot of the time, which is fair. But you’re also like, “It’s $2. Come on, hook me up with the two bucks.” It’s tough trying to think of different options to make it worth it because it’s really hard to sell 10 to 20 t-shirts. It’s a lot of thinking about design and stuff that you used to not have to do.
