Since 1969, Muscle Shoals Sound Studios in Sheffield, Alabama, has been the birthplace of monumental pieces of music from artists like Aretha Franklin and The Rolling Stones. Yet as of January, local indie musician and 25-year-old UF alum Thomas Allain stood in the very place where those icons breathed life into music, recording nine songs over the course of five days.
While meeting with a producer in Atlanta, Allain pitched songs he wrote with Gainesville-based indie artist Jordan Burchel. After that, he found his way to Alabama, where he collaborated with the studio’s band members to turn demos into complete songs.
Throughout this “liberating” experience, Allain retired the idea of creating a “perfect record,” and focused on his music’s authenticity instead. Hearing immediate feedback from the band members alongside the quality of his own voice was challenging for him, he said.
“I don’t like that I’m uncomfortable, but I think that because I’m uncomfortable, I’m doing the right thing,” he said.
The album ranges from love songs to political messages. Comparing his recent music to the first track he ever recorded six years ago, “River,” he still holds excitement simply for the feeling of singing, even if he didn’t have all the tools needed when he first started, he said.
Allain’s “sentimental indie folk rock” pulls from his own personal experiences in the hopes of creating relatable music for his audience.
Pulling inspiration from artists like Fleetwood Mac and Theo Katzman, Allain strives to write honest songs, allowing other people to realize what they’re going through is normal, he said. Specifically, Allain’s title track of his album, “Footprints in the Stone” is about feeling lonely in unprecedented times, even while being constantly surrounded by people.
For about a year prior to recording the album, Allain worked on his songs and lyric structure with Burchel. Bouncing ideas off of one another gave Allain clarity while bringing his artistic ideas to life.
“He’s going for something that’s very honest and elemental, and so it’s really hard to write songs the way that he does where they’re relatively simple and pure,” Burchel said. “It’s really hard to portray that without it feeling like it’s copying something else. I think he got there.”
Burchel sees that in many musicians today, including himself, they attempt to protect themselves from real emotions, but Allain never shies away from bravely including those pieces in his songs, he said. Allain’s “emotional purity of purpose,” Burchel believes, sets him apart from other artists.
Another artist who inspired Allain to explore more creative avenues in his work was 21-year-old UF sociology senior Isabella Duncan of the pop band Prizilla. Duncan described her role while helping Allain as “minimal,” because Allain always had each song planned out prior to it even being recorded.
Allain’s “stripped-down” musical approach contrasts with how many artists seem to complicate their work by adding an overwhelming amount of elements to a song, Duncan said. Duncan first met Allain while he was performing for his band, The Late Night Losers, in 2020.
“[Allain] helped me rethink how I write,” Duncan said. “He challenged me to write lyrics about a topic that I wasn’t as connected to, which is hard, because honestly most of the time when you write music as a musician, it’s your way of expressing [your] experiences”
Allain is set to perform at Heartwood Music Festival June 14 alongside Prizilla, where he will perform his album’s debut single.
Contact Autumn Johnstone at ajohnstone@alligator.org. Follow them on X @AutumnJ922
Autumn Johnstone is a freshman journalism/art student and a music reporter for The Avenue. When they're not writing, you can find them enjoying a nice cup of coffee at a nearby café or thrifting for vinyls. You may find their other published work in Strike magazine, Atrium magazine and Musée magazine in New York City.
