Touting a new studio album, Lynn Thompson talked about his songs with Local Spins, which also debuted tracks by Finding Amelia, Metal Bubble Trio, Justin Avdek and more.
The Moonshine Runners: Ian Grant, at left, and Lynn Thompson have released a new studio album. (Courtesy Photo)
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Lynn Thompson’s songs often resonate with audiences, his unique writing style, musical approach and heartfelt lyrics even getting attention from fans of the superstar variety.
Take bluegrass virtuoso Billy Strings, who stopped to listen to Thompson during a recent performance at Lowell’s Flat River Grill where the Ionia County-bred guitarist was picking up a takeout order.
“He’s listening to this tune and he puts his food down, leans back against the wall with his hands folded, puts his knee up and he listened to my entire tune till I finished,” Thompson recalled.
“He leans over to me, comes over to my (tips) bucket and puts a hundred-dollar bill in. He goes, ‘Nice tune.’ I knew I would get him with that tune because it’s a good tune and it’s a little different.”
‘Little different’ and ‘good tunes’ go hand in hand with Thompson, a veteran Grand Rapids tunesmith and frontman for Lynn & Ian: The Moonshine Runners, which just released, “Old Hard Top,” a new collection of “mountain music” and related folk/Americana/Southern songs that showcase the duo’s unique, rootsy, penetrating style.
Performing regularly with bassist Ian Grant, Thompson and his Moonshine Runners project officially celebrate the follow-up to 2019’s “Worlds Away” on Jan. 11 as part of the Wheatland Music Organization’s Winter Wheat festival at The Intersection in Grand Rapids.
Ten Michigan acts will perform on two stages that day, with Lynn & Ian: The Moonshine Runners closing out the Traditional Stage (The Stache) at 6:40 p.m. that Saturday. Tickets are $30 in advance, available online here.
View the full lineup and schedule below. The Round Creek String Band not only opens the festival at 2 p.m., but will perform a special “Winter Wheat Warmup” concert for Local Spins Wednesdays at SpeakEZ Lounge at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday (Jan. 8).
WIDE-RANGING SUBJECT MATTER IN TUNES THAT ARE DIFFICULT TO CATEGORIZE
Thompson called on several special guests for “Old Hard Top,” recorded at Greg Baxter’s Second Story Sound in Grand Rapids starting in 2023. Baxter, keyboardist Dutcher Snedeker, drummer Rick Bennett and djembe player JD Jones all added to the recording which can be difficult to pigeonhole stylistically and comes across as “a little more diverse” than past projects.
“ ‘Old Hard Top’ is still along the lines of mountain music, but it’s probably not as bluegrass,” said Thompson, noting that some tracks come across as “more of a folk song” with subject matter ranging from the dark “Cry for the Children” – inspired by Kentucky flooding that took dozens of victims – to a tune about Bigfoot.
“WYCE once said to me, ‘Lynn, we don’t know where to put you in a category. And I said, ‘Oh, then I’m doing something right.’”
The New Album: “Old Hard Top” (Artwork by Haley Thompson)
The Moonshine Runners follow their Winter Wheat performance by returning to SpeakEZ Lounge in Grand Rapids for a Jan. 31 show as part of the Local Spins Wednesdays and Fridays series. (They also play Grand Haven’s Grand Armory Brewing at 6:30 p.m. tonight, and Harbor Light Brewery in South Haven at 6 p.m. Saturday).
“Ian and I have been together for six years and he and I work together extremely well,” Thompson said. “With me on the 12-string (guitar), which tends to be on the treble side, and Ian on bass being the low end, it fills the room with a full sound even though it’s just an acoustic and bass guitar with a kick drum.”
Thompson noted that he’s “already got new songs” written that he plans to record for a follow-up album, thus adding to his extensive, growing repertoire of original music.
“I am a songwriter, so when I sit down to create, it’s whatever channels in at the time,” he insisted. “I’m just in a mood and it’s like the song just comes along. I kind of just see it right before my eyes and it just writes itself.”
For this week’s edition of Local Spins on WYCE – which focuses on music by Michigan artists at 11 a.m. Fridays and 5 p.m. Sundays on WYCE (88.1 FM) and online at wyce.org — Thompson spotlighted two tracks from the new album, the title track and “Walking Down the Road.”
Listen to the interview and these songs in the radio show podcast below – a show that also featured music from Metal Bubble Trio, Justin Avdek, Round Creek String Band, The Gasoline Gypsies, Bryan Wolfbird, Real Monster, Finding Amelia, Rabbit Fur, Tony Manfredonia and Lexie Blue.
PODCAST: Local Spins on WYCE (1/3/25)
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