Early Life and Music
Jeff Thomas was born on November 28, 1981, in New Bern NC, to Charles (Randy) Thomas Jr. and Andrea Smith. His mother, a violin and cello instructor, started teaching him to play the violin when he was 3 years old. Thomas began to develop his vocal talent by performing in his church’s children choir and by performing in local community theater.
His family relocated to Nashville, TN, in 1993. Thomas was musically active in his community and church throughout middle school and high school. He was a member of his high school’s select chorus and was invited to perform as a member of Tennessee’s All-State Chorus from ’98-’00. He also performed in his church’s youth choir and eventually formed his first band, Good Dirt Posse, with his close friends and performed in his school and community talent show.
After high school, Thomas was granted a partial scholarship to Berklee College of Music, but enrolled in an area community college instead. With a concentration in music, he was the first ever recipient of The Jim Moore Scholarship, which is a full music scholarship, he won a contest that was held by Fox Nashville’s local affiliate ahead of the second season of American Idol called “Nashville’s American Idol,” where he was one of 6 contestants who competed on Fox’s Morning show in 2002, he was a member of his college’s concert and show choirs, and formed the Christian Alternative rock band, Clear Method.
Next Year’s Best and 1st Departure from Music
Thomas dropped out of college and married in 2005. In 2006, he formed the Indie rock band, Next Year’s Best. NYB would grow to become one of the more popular bands in the Nashville Indie music scene in the late 2000’s. They were invited to perform at historic venues such as Exit/In, The End, The Rutledge, Mercy Lounge, Rocket Town, and others. They won a Battle of the Bands that took place at another popular venue now closed, The Muse. During their time together, NYB recorded unofficial releases that were available for streaming on their MySpace Profile. The 2006 EP, Reading, Writing, and Hypocrites and the unreleased LP, Zombies. After a number of lineup changes at rhythm, lead, and bass guitar, Next Year’s Best briefly changed their name to Dropshot before ultimately disbanding in 2008.
After the breakup, Thomas, now with two small children, made a significant career change and enlisted in the US Army Reserves.
The Madness EP and Hiaitus
Feeling unfulfilled with how music had abruptly ended, Thomas began working on a solo recording project with longtime friend and producer, Adam Stegeman. Working for a year, they produced Thomas’ debut release, 2011’s The Madness EP, which included 5 songs and had a run time of 20 minutes. The Madness EP was a departure from Thomas’ work with NYB, as it was a step towards Americana, Roots, and Indie Folk. Mostly acoustic, there were very few elements of synth and electric guitar. Thomas composed a string section for two of the songs and performed with the chamber trio that recorded the composition, along with his mother.
Following the release of The Madness EP, Thomas was called on by the US Army for deployment to the Middle East. He would deploy in the spring of 2013 and return in the spring of 2014.
Internal Conflicts and 2nd Departure from Music
Upon returning from deployment, Thomas struggled with reacclimating to his former life. In an effort to try and help his transition back, he started work on a follow up EP to The Madness EP. This time, working with acclaimed producer, Michael Farona, with Middle C Productions, Thomas released Internal Conflicts: A Suite in A Minor. Eliciting the help of former bandmates and friends in the music industry, Internal Conflicts was released in September of 2015. The 6-song, 21 minute EP exhibited a momentary return to Thomas’ more progressive rock sound that was prominent while performing with Next Year’s Best. The EP included 3 songs that had been performed by Next Year’s Best.
After failing to garner any attention from labels or gain commercial traction, Thomas made the decision to step away from music.
Denouement and Fifteen Minutes of Fame Music Entertainment
Thomas would not return to music for 8 years. After his children began showing an interest in learning to play and record, Thomas (in an effort to groom their interest in recording) began to revisit some of his old songs to practice recording. “I really had no intention of releasing anything or doing this whole project. My son, Gavin had started developing an interest in playing guitar and learning to record. There were a few musicians he followed from social media who were doing these really innovative DIY things with production and he wanted to get into that.”
Thomas started recording songs by programming synths and percussions using the mobile Garage Band app on his iPhone 12. “I sort of took a minimalist approach in the beginning. I was mostly using the phone. I played an electric guitar part by plugging into an iRig and using the amp software the app had, I was using a little midi player with the software from the app, and most of the vocals were recorded from the built in mic from the iPhone. i eventually bought a cheap little $30 podcast microphone that could go directly into the iPhone to do some (slightly) better quality vocals. I didn’t even realize it, but soon I had 7 songs finished. When it occurred to me how quickly it was going, I thought it might be cool to see it through and release an album so I could demonstrate the full process of releasing music; from start to finish.”
In April, Thomas released his first music in 8 years, the single Cancerous, then the following month, he released his debut LP, Denouement. Around this time, Thomas began developing friendships with an online community of independent musicians. Noticing how large the indie community was and that there was a shared desire to be heard, the idea to create the website Fifteen Minutes of Fame, Music Entertainment came. “I was thinking abut things I missed out on when I was a younger independent artist. I thought about how great it would be if there was somebody who was able to review the work of independent artists. I knew I was about 5 years too late for the ‘blog era,’ but I thought if it were packaged a little bit differently, then maybe some people might find some interest in it.”
Fifteen Minutes of Fame published it’s first article in July of 2024. Then, in March of 2025, launched it’s website. FMOF have featured more than 200 independent artists spanning across 35 states in the US, and more than 20 countries across 6 continents. There have been nearly 200 publication to date, including Reviews, Blind Reactions, and Interviews. FMOF partnered with the online community Collaborative Artist Network in May of 2025.
Evaporate
While finishing Denouement, Thomas started writing songs again. “With Denouement, I was recording old songs, recycling them, while also developing my skills as a producer; something I’d never done before. Once I opened that creative door, it seems like everything just reignited. I started writing lyrics first. Then, I started playing the guitar a little bit more.”
Over the next two years, Thomas would end up writing nearly 60 new songs. “I had this fascination with Folk, Roots, and Americana. Some of the same energy I had in that very first EP. But this time, I recorded new songs that I still identify with. With Madness, all of the songs were 5-10 years old and my life was completely different. It was all a little bit displaced. Plus, I was younger and hadn’t really learned to open up. I used to write a lot about movies or stories that inspired me. I think it got me by as a songwriter, but it wasn’t really who I was. I wanted to change that with Evaporate.”
Jeff Thomas’ second LP, Evaporate, will release on January 16th, 2026. Prior to its release, there will be two singles; Drakes Creek Park, which is scheduled to release on November 21st, 2025 and Beattyville, Ky, featuring Neccos for Breakfast, which will be released at a later date. Evaporate was written and recorded by Thomas and produced by Necco Records.
