Thom Chacon
Durango, Colorado, United States | Established. Jan 01, 2010 | INDIE
Music
Press
Thom Chacon is a singer-songwriter who was raised in California and settled in Durango, CO, a town that still has the feel of the old west. The second cousin of former featherweight boxing champ Bobby Chacon, he writes vivid songs about hard luck people struggling to achieve the American Dream, earning comparisons to Steve Earle and Kris Kristofferson. On his first visit to WFUV, I welcomed him to the Sunday Breakfast. - John Platt, WFUV
Interview with Thomas Gerbasi - Examiner
I'll put it to you this way: if "Ain't Gonna Take Us Alive", with its 12 string electric doesn't deliver the chills on your stereo, your stereo needs work.
The sound is immediate, unprocessed, three-dimensional and as deep and honest as Chacon's songwriting and singing. The dynamics and instrumental textures are as good as you will hear on a record—or live for that matter. The bass line erupts in a way you may have thought was extinct on modern recordings. Why can't everything sound this good? - Michael Fremer (Analog Planet)
I'll put it to you this way: if "Ain't Gonna Take Us Alive", with its 12 string electric doesn't deliver the chills on your stereo, your stereo needs work.
The sound is immediate, unprocessed, three-dimensional and as deep and honest as Chacon's songwriting and singing. The dynamics and instrumental textures are as good as you will hear on a record—or live for that matter. The bass line erupts in a way you may have thought was extinct on modern recordings. Why can't everything sound this good? - Michael Fremer (Analog Planet)
“I think that what I’m hearing is pretty significant – like the first time I heard Steve Earle’s “Copperhead Road” in ’88 or Son Volt’s “Trace” in ’95. Those are seminal recordings, rare performances …what I'm hearing has transcendent quality.” - The Colorado Sound
“With a gnarled, flinty voice somewhere between John Prine and Steve Earle, predominantly acoustic yet edgy songs and a stripped down but full sounding band that includes two Dylan sidemen, Chacon is a vivid storyteller that seems to have lived every word of his honest, rust tinged tunes.” - American Songwriter
“On Thom Chacon's self-titled new CD, he delivers a gritty dose of Americana that betrays his age…The characters in Chacon's songs are everyday people, making them easy to relate to. Many listeners may know -- or even be -- some of the folks he speaks of. Chacon's knack for storytelling, along with his pop sense, makes for a potent combination on this self-titled release” - Blinded By Sound
After decades of singer/songwriters threading thin voices through stock images cribbed from Dylan or Springsteen, I concede some inherent skepticism anytime I am introduced to yet another young guy with an acoustic guitar, a scruffy look, and a twang. Chacon's debut collection shatters that sort of cynicism with its literary flair, stellar musical backing, and astonishing maturity. - Music Street Journal
“I was instantly transported to a lowly barroom in southwest Colorado listening to the heart and soul of one of the most promising songwriters of our time being strewn all about…Chacon’s songwriting is open, honest, and easy to relate to, leaving no mystery with songs with like “Ain’t Gonna Take Us Alive,” “Alcohol,’ and “American Dream.’ ” - Currentland
“Thom Chacon may not be a Nashvillian, but his respect for the story and the song, and his almost reverential approach to its delivery in performance and on record, would make him right at home among Music City’s musical artisans and craftsmen…Chacon most identifiably calls to mind the singing and writing approaches of John Prine and Steve Earle” - Nashville Arts Magazine
Thom Chacon is proving, more and more, to be exactly what modern day roots rock needs the most. - Guitar International
Discography
Blood In The USA (2017)
Buy This Fracking Album (Featured Artist) (2015)
Thom Chacon (2013)
Featherweight Fighter (2010)
Live At Folsom Prison (2009)
Photos
Bio
“I’m living the American dream / Fo’ sho’ / I’m worth more dead Because baby, I owe.”
Thom Chacon could well be the subject for one of his own evocative songs. On his self-titled sophomore album on the Pie label, the Durango, CO, singer-songwriter takes on the “American Dream” in no uncertain terms. Recorded at producer Perry Margouleff’s famed Pie Studios in Glen Cove, N.Y., with Bob Dylan’s rhythm section of drummer George Recile and bassist Tony Garnier, Thom Chacon offers a series of compelling narratives that focus on the forgotten members of society.
Born in Southern California, but raised in Sacramento, Chacon is the son of a Hispanic father, a newscaster who became a public relations executive, and a Lebanese mother, a kindergarten teacher, with five sisters (he was the second youngest). He first showed an interest in music at a young age, offering as proof a tape recording of him singing “Rhinestone Cowboy” as a three-year-old. Thom listened to story-tellers like Glen Campbell, Jim Croce, the Beatles of Rubber Soul and Smokey Robinson on his parents’ record player before picking up a guitar in fourth grade. He wrote his first song at age 16. “It wasn’t very good, but in all these years, I’ve never stopped. It’s something I have to do.”
Seeing Kris Kristofferson wear a harp rack inspired him to don one as well. “If you’re a solo artist, it’s your second band mate,” he says, before adding, “for me, it’s less about my voice and guitar-playing then it is the words and melody, which is why I modeled myself after what he was doing.”
Moving to Los Angeles in his early 20s, Thom originally sought fame and fortune in the L.A. music scene, then quickly realized he needed something more authentic. He took a job on a horse ranch in the foothills of Los Angeles, learning how to ride and take care of the horses.
Eventually, Thom decided to move to Durango, Colorado, seeking more of life’s outdoor adventures, and to concentrate on his songwriting. Thom became a part time fly-fishing guide, and when not on tour, takes people on horseback into the mountains of Colorado and New Mexico for extended camping and fly-fishing expeditions.
The cinematic nature of Thom’s songs comes not only from spending time as a true outdoorsman, but also from a love of movies and vintage television westerns, with a special affection for the films of John Ford, and John Wayne, a favorite of his mom.
Thom’s narrative style is influenced by Kris Kristofferson, Steve Earle and Townes Van Zandt, among others. He also draws influence from his colorful family history. His second cousin, Bobby Chacon was two-time boxing featherweight champion. “Bobby taught me no matter how hard it gets, you’ve go to get up off the mat and keeping fighting.” His grandfather was deputy sheriff in Silver City, New Mexico and part of the posse sent to capture Billy the Kid!
Thom has gone on to tour around the world, opening for artists as diverse as Los Lonely Boys and Jason Mraz, playing shows in Thailand and India, and even one memorable gig on July 4, 2004 at Folsom Prison, shortly after the death of another of his idols, Johnny Cash. “That was a life-changing experience for me,” he says.
With his current music reflecting a good dose of lifetime experiences, along with the hard-earned wisdom of a man who’s paid his dues both on the land and the water, Thom Chacon is now being touted by the press as “an Americana original” and “one of the most important songwriters of our time.”
2012 finds this dark cowboy balladeer trekking across the States with Los Lonely Boys, bringing audiences songs from Featherweight Fighter, as well as his forthcoming CD Thom Chacon, which will be released March 26, 2013 on Pie Records. More to come.
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