NEW ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: Thompson Square

Every vocal duo is a story still being told. And when the members have both a personal and musical bond, it’s often about two roads starting at different places before joining as one highway of song.

So it is with Keifer Thompson and Shawna Thompson, a.k.a. Thompson Square. His path began in Miami, Okla., where he grew up on Merle Haggard, Roger Miller, Tom Petty and Bruce Springsteen as well as heavy metal and punk; Shawna’s was through Alabama, Reba and her guitarist father’s music in tiny Chatom, Ala.

Fate guided them to Nashville, where they met at a vocal competition. When she beat him at pool, their plans of solo success began giving way to dreams of finding it as a duo.

Shawn Pennington of Matchless Management became their manager after hearing them at a local club. Days later, he arranged a showcase for the staff at Stoney Creek Records. They would emerge with their self-titled debut, featuring 12 songs, nine of them co-written by one or both Thompsons.

Each pushes the other toward a middle ground where their aesthetics merge. Their first single, “Are You Gonna Kiss Me or Not” (written by Jim Collins and David Lee Murphy), is an example of their process, exploding at the top like a Springsteen power lick, but with a chorus where Shawna’s pristine voice hardens to complement Keifer’s gig-toughened delivery. This mirrors what they do on “Glass” (Ross Copperman and Jon Nite), where Keifer’s harmony nestles next to Shawna’s fragile, heartfelt lead.

IN THEIR OWN WORDS

ITEMS FOR YOUR PERSONAL TIME CAPSULE
BOTH “Our laptops, Keifer’s Harley boots, tape recorder, lyric sheets and photo albums.”

FAVORITE MODE OF TRANSPORATION
BOTH “Motorcycle.”

MOMENT YOU’D LIKE TO RELIVE
KEIFER “The proposal.”

SHAWNA “The day we got married.”

SOMETHING WE’D NEVER GUESS ABOUT YOU
KEIFER “I buy book after book because I love the idea of going to bookstores and reading, but most never get finished.”

SHAWNA “I’m obsessed with Hello Kitty.”