Thomas Dollbaum, a musician and poet, has made his home in New Orleans for a decade, but his songs still have a deep connection to Florida, where he was born and raised in a semi-rural area on the fringes of Tampa.

Florida Memories

Dollbaum’s music is influenced by his childhood memories of the state, including the wilderness that existed amid the expanding reach of humans. His songs often feature narrators chasing rabbits, praying coyotes won’t feast on their house cats, or traversing thick, shaded mangrove groves under the watch of vibrantly colored birds.

Dollbaum is supported on his record by a backing band that includes Jake Lenderman, who played drums and added backing vocals to a handful of tracks. Dollbaum met Lenderman on tour in Asheville, North Carolina, and has since developed a kinship with a handful of artists from the region.

Regionalism in Music

Dollbaum’s music, like that of his friend and fellow musician Aaron Dowdy of Fust, specializes in roots-based music that has an innate sense of place. This idea resonates strongly within Dollbaum’s music, particularly in the quietly menacing song ‘Big Boi,’ which finds him recounting a series of true events he experienced some years back.

Dollbaum’s creative process involves patience and allowing his thoughts to stew, which he describes as essential to his songwriting. He doesn’t like to write about his feelings in the moment, preferring to have some space and perspective before putting his thoughts into music.

Original reporting: Matter News (Columbus) — read the source article.