Tom Whall isn’t your typical Nashville songwriter - for the vast majority of his career he has been rocking behind a drum kit. The Silver Spring, MD native has been featured on NFL’s Monday Night Football with artist Ayla Brown; has toured internationally with Cassadee Pope for the better part of three years, playing sold out theaters and the coveted London O2 arena as the support act for Chris Young; and, ultimately, landed with Jameson Rodgers’ band, taking the stage at every arena in the USA on the Luke Combs tour. He’d always had an ear for songwriting, however, thanks to the influence of his father. Whall’s dad played in a classic rock cover band at the weekend while young Tom watched from the barroom crowd. After learning the basics of guitar from his dad, however, Tom found himself more at home with the skins. He began writing songs in high school for fun and ended up studying percussion at Baldwin Wallace College. “After I graduated college in 2011 I knew I had to move to Nashville,” he recalls, “Me and a buddy loaded up a trailer and started driving down there with no lease, no plan, no nothing.” He spent several years working odd jobs around town before Cassadee Pope came calling. After playing with her, and many others (including Emily Earle and Charlie Barry) Tom realized his lifestyle as a drummer gave him a unique approach to the craft of songwriting. Prolificity soon followed, and Combustion took notice, signing him in November of 2021.