by Alexx Calise

Meet GHS Artist, Thomas Fountain, an indie country artist whose songs are as rich as the red clay of Georgia, the state in which he hails from and often celebrates in his music. When he’s not playing and writing music, he enjoys fly fishing, food, hunting, and spending time with his many nieces and nephews. Learn more about this talented artist in this recent interview.

You’ve shared the stage with a plethora of great country artists like Chris Stapleton, Charlie Daniels, Travis Tritt, Trace Adkins, Joe Diffie, Kellie Pickler, LoCash, and Brett Young. How did you land all these amazing opening slots? I work with a few agents for booking, but we have gotten a lot of these opener slots on our own. A few of these shows have been local and sponsored by the larger market radio stations, so they'll reach out to us as well.

Which guitars are your favorites to use in a live setting? I use 2. My go to is always my Gibson CL 30, 97' model. It has no pre-amp so I'm just now getting the right gear to try and capture that warm tone it has on it's on. My backup is a Martin acoustic/electric, which sounds great through a system.

Which pedals do you have in your chain? It's pretty basic actually. I'm a big fan of trying to capture an authentic acoustic sound. Right now, I'm using an LR Baggs Venue DI with a standard BOSS tuner.

How long have you been using GHS strings, and which sets are your go-tos? I have been using them for about 4 years now. Recently joined the GHS family about 6 months ago. I've now tried all the acoustic strings and honestly there isn't one I haven't liked. The playability and durability are unmatched. My whole band uses GHS Strings every show.

Tell us about the meaning behind your hit song, “Sometimes God Whispers”, which currently has about 1.4 million hits on Facebook. What prompted you to write it? It's actually the only song I've recorded thus far that I didn't write. I'm learning as a songwriter not to be jealous with my own songs. As a songwriter it's very easy to be biased to your songs because they have more personal meaning. However, I was looking for a little something different. I was pitched probably 200 songs and when I heard this one I immediately fell in love and knew I wanted to record it. The song was written by Erica Sunshine Lee and Dave Fenley. Dave is currently on The Voice: Team Blake. Both are great writers and friends.

What’s going on show wise this year? Will you be doing some more touring? Shows have slowed down just a tad to prepare for what will be our biggest year in 2019. We do plan on touring again. We hit 7 states last year and made so many memories and introduced a lot of new people to my music. Touring season for us will likely begin in February.

We want to hear some more new music too! When are you releasing a new record? With the down time from shows I am actually busier than normal with all the behind the scenes stuff. I head into the studio next month to record my 2nd EP and I couldn't be more excited. It has a distinct sound and I'll have a hand in producing it. I love being in the studio almost as much as playing live. It really gives my creative side an outlet to do what it does.

You have some really cool, hip merch. Which items have you found to be your bestsellers at shows? Definitely our new Dreamcatcher and Buffalo Tee design shirts. We try to keep it ever changing maintaining our brand at the same time. Our tumblers and mason jars sold out fast so we may bring those back in 2019.

What is your absolute favorite song to play live? Oh man this is a tough one. There is nothing like creating a song from nothing as a writer. Taking that song to a studio, recording it, playing it live, and hearing fans sing the words back to you. Then to hear stories from fans of how the song relates to their life or has even helped them in their struggles is a very powerful feeling. I'm a big 90's country fan. It's pretty much what I cut my teeth on. So, anytime we can throw in a cover from that decade, I'm happy. There’s also just something about a good Blackberry Smoke tune, which is my current favorite band.

Being a country music artist, do you find shows like “Nashville” to be somewhat true to life or extraordinarily frustrating? I actually watched one season to see what the fuss was about. I think it's a little of both actually. I think it depicts some of the craziness of the music business pretty well. It can be very cut throat and ruthless at times.

Aside from playing music, I see you also like to fish. What’s the biggest fish you’ve ever caught? I love anything outdoors and was introduced to fly fishing on a trip out to Wyoming 6 or 7 years ago. If you don't have some sort of a solitude getaway, you'll literally go insane in this business. Fly fishing has become that for me. It's a place to ease my mind. When friends go with me they know not to discuss any business, only fishing. It's a time to release and recharge. However, to answer your question it would probably be around a 12-13 pound trout at about 28-29 inches.

What else do you like to do whenever you’re not recording or touring? I have a big family with 4 sisters and have lots of nieces and nephews. I love spending time with them when I can. I am a former high school baseball and basketball coach so I love sports as well. No matter your skill level, sports is a great life teaching tool. When I officially decided to really give music a go, the competitiveness I had in sports seemed to carry over into the music realm. I love good food as well too, ha ha. Anytime we hit a new city, I've already done my research about the go-to restaurants.