The Sean “Weird Ears” Thompson Interview
Born and raised in Nashville, TN, Thompson became quickly enamored by artists such as Merle Haggard, Slayer and various psych outfits before dialing in his real passion for the steel guitar. Thompson’s a talented dude as he provokes the outlaw landscapes in this rather strange media frenzy world we live in, but his music is honest, hopeful and above all, present. In this interview we talk about his childhood growing up in the influential south, acquiring his first guitar from his uncle, touring and playing shows, the manifestation of his raspberry masterpiece working on a new album and much more!
A fellow Tennessean, tell me about growing up in Nashville. What was your childhood like? When did you first begin to fall in love with music? Was this something that was relevant around your household growing up? What is it about the pedal steel that fascinates you the most?
My childhood was very normal. My parents aren’t musicians, but my uncles always played guitar for fun. My uncle Steve gave me my first guitar around age twelve or thirteen. My mom and pop both grew up in Nashville, so they were able to see quite a few legendary bands that came through town. I first became enamored with steel when I heard Merle Haggard and The Strangers. I was heavily into psych tunes and was working on a flattop grill in a coffee shop in Nashville. There were some old heads there that had impeccable music taste and introduced me to some essential music, including Merle. One day, it all clicked. I couldn’t tell where the guitar phrase ended and the steel began. I love steel because it’s able to occupy a seemingly impossible sonic space. It’s able to soar so highly above everything else on a recording. Because it’s occupying such a unique space, it doesn’t feel like it’s crowding the recording. Unlike a guitar haha.
Do you have any siblings? What would you and your friends do for fun growing up? Who were some of your earliest influences in your more formative years? When and where did you see your first show and when did it dawn on you that you wanted to be a musician yourself?
I have a brother and sister that are a good bit older than I am. They live a bit outside of Nashville with their respective families. I went to an arts magnet school where I made a lot of friends that played music, so we jammed a lot and listened to music. Eventually, we all started playing shows and figuring out how to tour. A lot of these cats are still very close friends and musical collaborators to this day. Very lucky for that. I think that time is what cemented my desire to live a fully musical life. I had no idea how to attain that, but it was fun figuring it out. I first really started seeking out music that I liked around age thirteen, or fourteen. I was obsessed with metal bands like Death, Slayer and Morbid Angel.
When and where did you play your first gig and what was that experience like? Did you participate in any groups, or projects prior to ST’s Weird Ear? Tell me about writing and recording your debut album “Time Has Grown As Raspberry” back in 2019. What was the overall vision and approach to this record? How did the deal with Sadder Day Records come about?
My first band, Gnarwhal, played our first gig (my first show) at a defunct venue called The Muse. A very revelatory time. Since then, I’ve gone on to play with a lot of bands. I played in a band called Pujol after Gnarwhal. Promised Land Sound after Pujol. After that, I’ve been a freelance player with a lot of different folks. Really grateful to play with a very talented and diverse group of artists that span many ends of the sonic spectrum.
How did you go about putting some folks together such as Will Mann, Ryan Donoho, Pete Stringer-Hye and Alec O’Connell to help bring the music to life? Would you mind giving a little back history to songs such as “Raspberry Pie”, “Time Has Grown A Raspberry”, and “Home Again”?
My very close friend, Tommy, texted me one night. He said he had a dream in which I had written a hit psychedelic folk song called “Time Has Grown A Raspberry”. I promised him I’d try and write a song to bring the dream into existence. After a lot of failed attempts, I had given up. I was working on a farm one day and the whole idea kinda popped up out of nowhere: I’d try to write a few tunes that are loosely following the narrative of someone moving out to the country to work on a raspberry farm. It all kinda fell into place. All those cats are friends and I had been playing Music with them for a while in different incarnations. My buddy Sam Hoffman put the tape out on his label, Sadderdays. Only a hundred, or so out there in the world!
2022 saw the release of your anticipated, self-titled follow up. Walk me through the process and writing of this album and what you wanted to ultimately express as well as explore with this material that's different from your previous work. How did you want to approach this record? How did the deal with Curation Records come about?
All the tunes on my self titled record were written during proper lockdown during the pandemic. I had all of a sudden, like everyone else, found a very busy life standing completely still. I was lucky to be able to find joys in everyday life and really soak in a nice spring day. Other than “Time Has Grown A Raspberry”, I’m kinda incapable of not writing songs about stuff that’s just all around me. I was writing a lot about finding peace in a dark time. It was the first time I had absolutely nothing to do but work on my fledgling writing chops. I just hiked, woodshedded, walked some dog, ate food, and wrote tunes. I would write a song and hone in on it for countless hours. Teddy and The Roughriders and I had a tight little jam pod during lockdown and we met a few times a week to play each others songs. We honed in on songs very intensely. It was a beautiful process. After the record was done, I just cold called Brent at Curation and sent him the record. Being the sweetheart that he is, Brent took the time to listen. Eventually we started working together. I love the people over at Curation very much. Very grateful to them for digging the record and giving it a chance.
What have you been up to here recently? Are you working on anything new for Spring/Summer? Is there anything else you would like to further share with the readers?
Asides from doing a lot of freelance gigs with folks, I’ve been writing and recording a second record. Hopefully, I’ll have it all buttoned up soon. I just returned from playing south by southwest and got to play some really fantastic shows. The Hippie Scum/Aquarium Drunkard show at Lolo was a blast. The New West show at Mohawk, and Sam’s Town Point shows were really beautiful times. I’m fixing to go to Europe in a couple weeks with Spencer Cullum and Rich Ruth. They’re deep buds and I’m really excited to goof around Europe and play all of our tunes.
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