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  • "I decided that there could be something I could do with this voice I have": Tommy Howell on his venture into music, his singles and more (Exclusive)
Tommy Howell dishes about his singles and experience with music (Image via (PR Handout))

"I decided that there could be something I could do with this voice I have": Tommy Howell on his venture into music, his singles and more (Exclusive)

Tommy "C Thomas" Howell has a 40-year career as an actor, producer, and director. The artist has also spread his wings to pursue his passion for singing and songwriting. The artist released his debut single titled Rose Hill on September 16, 2022, and his second single, Whiskey Demon, on October 21, 2022.

Rose Hill is a song inspired by the Allman Brothers Band. Tommy wrote the song while visiting the Allman Brothers' former hangout in Macon, Georgia, where members Duane, Gregg Allman, Berry Oakley, and Otis Redding are buried. While Whiskey Demon began as a fun project, it evolved into Tommy talking about growing up in an alcoholic family.

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In conversation with Varsha Narayanan from Sportskeeda, Tommy talks about his passion for singing and songwriting, his singles, and future plans.


Tommy Howell: "I can't wait to get my next album done"

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Q) Could you share with us the inspiration behind starting your career in singing and songwriting?

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TOMMY: I decided that there might be something I could do with my voice, which is raspy and raw.

I'm definitely not for everybody, but the people that I am for, tend to really like it a lot. Dean Miller (award-winning producer) really saw that from the beginning and trusted the process. He didn't want to “fix me or change me or teach me'' and allowed me to grow at my own rate.


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Q) Could you share the process of writing the song Rose Hill and what led to this piece?

TOMMY: “Rose Hill” is a song that acknowledges the greatness of a moment I experienced in the Rose Hill cemetery.

There's something about visiting a cemetery that makes your mind race and your imagination run wild as you read the headstones and wander through the grounds. That’s really what happened to me there. It hit me hard how fragile life is.

I was with the low river, the trains, Otis Redding (an American songwriter), who is buried there, and the guys (the Allman brothers), and it was a perfect moment. I thought, can you imagine being buried with Otis Redding and the Allman Brothers? It wouldn't be a bad thing. That led to a really great experience, and the song pretty much wrote itself.


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Q) Could you tell us more about your new single "Whiskey Demon" and how that came about?

TOMMY: I got into it and thought, man, my father's been sober for 40 years, but he struggled with alcohol and addiction as a young man. I've struggled with it on levels I never imagined. I never had a hard drug addiction, but I have that urge where, you know, if I had gone down a different path, I would have definitely had problems.

But that’s the cool part about this song. Frankly, I think it's a jam. Depending on the listener and what they're going through at the time, "Whiskey Demon" is a song for them. If you've reached the point in your life where you've had enough of it and have dealt with the dark side of addiction, "Whiskey Demon" is for you. If you're in a time in your life where you're celebrating whiskey, “Whiskey Demon” is a song for you.

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Q) Are you in the process of releasing more music in the coming future? What can the audience anticipate in terms of length, genre, message, and other factors?

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TOMMY: Oh my gosh, I've got so many songs. I can't wait to get my next album done. I'm probably halfway through my next album already. I gotta learn how to chill because we haven't gotten our first album out yet. I'm so ready. I'm so excited.


Q) What is the message that you want to share through your music in general?

TOMMY: This first album, for me, is more experimental than theme-oriented. I'd like to do a themed album, and I'm now at the point where I'd be able to excel at it because I know how to do it now. However, my first album is more of an experimentation and learning experience.

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Q) What's next for Tommy Howell? In life and career?

TOMMY: I'm so excited because next year we're gonna be touring pretty much all year. This winter, we're going on a Cowboy Christmas tour. We're going back to Macon now that "Rose Hill" has been released. We have a big event coming up in February that I am very excited about. We'll be going on a spring tour, which we'll announce very soon.


Aside from the aforementioned projects, the artist has also been cast in the Netflix action-comedy series Obliterated by Cobra Kai creators Jon Hurwitz, Hayden Schlossberg, and Josh Heald. Tommy plays Haggerty, the eccentric Army Explosives technician, in the show, which is based on the story of "an elite Special Forces team that thwarts a deadly threat in Las Vegas."

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Edited by
Vinay Agrawal
 
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