Thom Chacon: Balladeer
“Thom Chacon’s music is simple, but don’t mistake that for a lack of depth. Simple writing is the hardest writing. And always the best. His songs are packed with rich imagery and instantly relatable sensibilities. He is a real writer, and by that I mean he has infected visions. I salute him.” – Mary Gauthier
With an acoustic guitar and a weathered voice, Thom Chacon, the Durango, Colorado balladeer, breathes life into the characters he creates on paper.
Chacon’s latest nine-song manifesto, Marigolds and Ghosts (out 3/10/21 on Pie Records) is filled with his one of a kind, hardscrabble American storytelling and has the type of inviting melodicism that will sweep listeners into his deeper meanings.
On the albums title track Thom proclaims-
“You disappeared into nothin’/ Sleepin’ in the car at the rivers edge/ Woke up with a fever and a heart of darkness/ Marigolds and Ghosts around your head”
Recorded on a balmy October evening at Gloria Sound in Van Nuys, California, producer Perry Margouleff, “Let the songs speak for themselves” by capturing Thom, and Tony Garnier (upright bass, Bob Dylan) “live” on two-inch analogue tape.
Thom Chacon delivers his poetic verse and all-American sentiment with the kind of memorable characters you just can’t shake. Chacon takes listeners by mule into the high country to fly-fish for trout in his prayer, “Church Of The Great Outdoors.” “Borderland” answers Neil Young’s 2018 call for artists to highlight the plight of children at the US/ Mexico border. “Angel Eyes” pays tribute to, as Chacon puts it, “One of my favorite western movie villains,” Lee Van Cleef.
In February 2021, Chacon once again landed on the cover of the legendary Italian music magazine, Buscadero. In 2018 he was awarded Buscadero’s “Best New Artist.” Thom Chacon has literally traveled around the world playing his songs: from the intimidating confines of Folsom Prison (“a life-changing experience”) to Thailand, India and Europe. Having wandered the globe, winning over crowds that appreciate the ethos and honesty of his music, these new songs are now proudly presented on Marigolds and Ghosts.