Singled Out: Mike Thomas' Out Back

Keavin Wiggins | 07-24-2023

Diamonds album cover art

Nashville-based country/Americana singer-songwriter Mike Thomas just released his new album, "Diamonds." To celebrate, we asked him to tell us about one of the songs and he selected, "Out Back". Here is the story:

Thanks for giving me the opportunity to be "Singled Out!" For this feature, I have decided to share the story about a track from my album that has not premiered as a single. "Out Back" is the closing track on my album, "Diamonds," and it was one of the final songs written for the record. In the summer of 2022, I had set aside several days to finish writing songs for the record before heading into the studio. The day before we were scheduled to head into the studio, I got a text message from an old friend, Nick Powell, whom I hadn't heard from in quite a while. Nick simply asked me for my email address and said, "I found a couple of old songs I wrote. I'm gonna send them to you. Do whatever you want with them or do nothing with them. I just want to share them with you."

One of the songs Nick sent was titled "Out Back," and although the song was only about 90 seconds long, the concept and the refrain really grabbed me. It was just an iPhone recording, but I could hear the raw emotion in Nick's vocals. I immediately felt this was a song that I could do something with, and it deserved to be finished. I shot Nick a text that night and said, "Tell me more about 'Out Back.'"

Nick explained that the song was inspired by his father, and that he had written it the day that he found out his dad had been diagnosed with cancer. I knew Nick's dad. He was a good man who was friends with my own father and other members of my family. The cancer eventually took his life. I suspect after listening to the recording that Nick sent me that day that he knew it eventually would.

The next morning, I got up before 5 a.m., grabbed my pad and my guitar, and went to work. I made a few adjustments to Nick's original song and worked up an additional verse, but the song, overall, stayed very true to that original iPhone recording Nick sent me. A few hours later, I was in the studio playing it for my producer, Tres Sasser. He loved it and we recorded it that day.

On the track, I was joined by Weston Woodford on harmonies, Tania Elizabeth on fiddle, Mark Huhta on dobro, Micah Hulscher on keys, Dave Colella on drums, and Tres played bass. I'm really pleased with this song. It's a simple song with a powerful message that many can relate to. Nick really gave me a gift when he sent me this song. It was an honor to finish it, and I can't wait for my listeners to hear it.

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen and watch for yourself below and learn more about the album here