Allen Thompson is a very soft-spoken man with a surprisingly soulful singing voice, as I learned Wednesday (Aug. 5) when he performed at Manuel's Nashville showroom. It was relaxing to browse around the shop, looking at the incredible hand-crafted jackets and suits Manuel is famous for, and listen to songs from Thompson's upcoming release, 26 Years. You don't get that at the local shopping mall. The master craftsman himself was on hand to enjoy the show, which was part of an ongoing series of performances at the shop, and he even remarked that Thompson will be getting married soon wearing one of the custom suits. But as much fun as it is to daydream about strutting around in rhinestone jackets, we were all there to enjoy fresh tunes from a very fresh face in Americana.

I think my favorite part about Thompson is that his songs seem like they should be downers -- he writes a lot about the tough-to-deal-with parts of life like deciding whether or not to forgive someone again -- but somehow most of them end up feeling fun or optimistic. There's also a subtle scratch in his voice, and when you hear that, you can tell he's really feeling the lyric. To keep touring costs down, he's traveling with just one guitarist right now, but the album features a full array of instruments as well as a bouncy duet with Larissa Maestro on "Break Me in Two." You can visit his MySpace page to preview his music before the album comes out Aug. 25. Be sure to check out "Forgive Me" and "26:1," a song inspired by Thompson's idol, Gram Parsons .

-Chris Parton via cmt.com
http://blog.cmt.com/2009-08-07/allen-thompson-sparkles-with-26-years-at-manuels-showroom/