thomas cunningham, singer/songwriter

Listen up. Seriously. Thomas Cunningham doesn't even bother to write down lyrics until he thinks they're sharpened up to a point, so the least a respectful listener could do is pay a little attention when his music's on the player. Don't get the wrong idea about him, though. Thomas isn't some poetry-addled, fussy songwriter: a technician of the highest order and the lowest originality. Sometimes the words and the music in his songs don't match up all pretty. But that's life.

That's how you know you're real, he sings.

Where he comes from? Hard to say. There's Jack Johnson in there somewhere, plus some Beck in the stream-of-consciousness imagery of his lyrics. Probably a little Supertramp and Steely Dan, too. If you know something about his family, you might even hear Thomas' father weeping for joy while remembering Chicago nights with jazz greats.

All over the map--that's his upbringing, and that's his music. Raised in Lodi and now settled (for the moment) in Woodland, Thomas has spent the better part of his 19 years ranging across the expanse of Central California.

It's the music that keeps it all together for Thomas. That, and a little bit of respect.