Entertainment

Trent Tomlinson

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Singer/songwriter Trent Tomlinson is one of those rare performers whose music is as straight-ahead and unpretentious as he is. "My songs," he says simply, "are real-life situations with kick-ass guitar." "It's 'open a beer, sit in a lawn chair, let's have a party' country," he says of his music. "At the same time, the songs are saying, 'I have the ability to love you, to understand,' and at the end of the day all that matters is Mama and Daddy and going to heaven. That pretty much sums everything up."Trent honed his music to perfection in countless demo studios over the years. "I've had five publishing deals," he says. "I've practically lived in the studio, creating and honing a sound of my own. And it turns out that five of the songs on the album record are actually my demos -- Lyric Street loved them so much as is that we just went in and re-sang and tweaked a little, instead of re-recording."

In fact, Trent was involved in every aspect of song selection and production on his album which is unusual for a new artist. That level of involvement is testament to his ability to turn the long hard road to stardom to his advantage. Although, he had written songs for Emerson Drive and Blue County, among others, Trent's career had amounted to a frustrating series of publishing deals until he had a breakthrough about two years ago. He was writing at Cal IV Entertainment, a Music City publishing company, when, "I kind of found myself," Trent says. "I basically admitted the truth about who I am and what I am, my demons and insecurities -- the ones that I run from on a day-to-day basis -- and began putting them into my songs."

Trent began his musical journey in Kennett, Missouri, which is also the home town of Sheryl Crow. His 6'8" father is a former basketball star who set scoring records at the University of Missouri and was drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers before knee surgery knocked him out. He was also the basketball coach and biology teacher at Trent's high school, and a tough taskmaster.

Trent is, after all this time, in the enviable position of having life and music come together successfully. He has written a song for the new Sara Evans album, and his debut album, Country Is My Rock, is ratifying the path he's taken.

"For me, the hardest part was letting it all out," he says, "but that's become my way for dealing with my darker side. Writing songs and singing help me to understand it and move on. Hopefully, the reception Country Is My Rock is getting means that other people are getting something out of it too.