If country music is three chords and the truth, Alexis Thompson is the female preacher of broken-hearted, socially-driven doses of honesty. With a style that ranges from country to folk to rock, Alexis Thompson mixes the sounds of banjo, mandolin, acoustic guitar, and a soulful country voice to create the musical musings of a young woman who has travelled many roads, both musically and in life.
Her sweet-sounding voice has held its own in competitions against such respectable artists as the Povertyneck Hillbillies. In addition, she spent her teenage years performing with the americana and fiddle music group, Kim Thomas and Diamonds in the Rough. Though her fellow musicians were three times her age, they still performed several songs Thompson had written.
"I guess it's not too often a thirteen year old girl wants to play with a bunch of 'older folks' in a country band the whole way through high school, but I did and I loved it", Thompson said.
Her current (2007) solo project is an album entitled, I Hate Money which promises to have the same alternative country and acoustic ballads as her previous work, with the growth and evolution of a musically-gifted woman. The album features the title track, I Hate Money, Thompson's self-proclaimed, "angry girl song" about the financial struggles and human greed associated with society. It also includes the slow and memorable, Home in Handcuffs about spousal abuse and the oppression women feel in a male-dominated society.
With a promising new album full of mature and intelligent content, Thompson makes it clear she is ready to face the world as an independent and articulate individual.
"I'm no angel, no use trying to come across as one", Thompson said. "Besides, it's much more fun to be the sinner than the saint!"
Thompson made her country music debut singing atop a cardboard box in the living room of her grandmother's house in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. Her mother convinced her to enter the elementary school talent show and the community was in awe of her talent and stage presence. She continued those local performances, gaining wisdom from the music of Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, The Judds, Pasty Cline, and Crystal Gale.
Thompson discovered the art of songwriting from Matraca Berg, who wrote Strawberry Wine. Soon after, she began teaching herself guitar and mastering her songwriting skills.
The move to Murfreesboro, Tennessee from Pennsylvania to attend Middle Tennessee State University in 2004 sealed the deal for Alexis Thompson to spend the rest of her life writing and performing music. Now in close radius to Nashville, Thompson plans to shop demos and find a position as a staff writer for a local publishing company.
"I want my songs to give people, women especially, strength and inspiration to be stronger", Thompson said.
(by Kristen Snyder)
Alexis Thompson - Listen Now
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