Spencer Thomas: Futurebirds Keyboardist Gets Real on The Joke of Life | Morse Code Podcast #207

Spencer Thomas is a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist based in Athens, Georgia. He also plays keys for the beloved cosmic jamericana touring band Futurebirds. His new record, The Joke of Life, is shot through with contributions from members of My Morning Jacket, Drive-By Truckers, Futurebirds annd — it’s been getting a lot of play at the Lenker house. Listen above, scroll down to watch on YouTube.But for a few short texts, Spencer and I hadn’t met until he pulled up in front in front of my joint in East Nashville. He'd had a long drive so we took a walk around the block to catch up, break the ice and enjoy the perfect fall weather. Once we started talking we didn’t stop. It was almost incidental, turning the mics on.We riffed on his early and present influences — Warren Zevon’s name is an appropriate drop here — as well as the reasoning behind his decision to move to Athens — Athens, Georgia — during the pandemic. When I asked Why not Nashville? we charged into a chapter on the plusses and minuses living in a talent hotspot. That he chose an independent incubation makes sense when you listen to his music. You can't make a record like The Joke of Life in Nashville.Even though I’ve lived here almost two decades, my own formative years as an artist were spent well away from commercial centers (shout out to Bellingham, Washington) — great for cultivating an individual voice, but maybe you sell more records (or streams I guess) the closer you snuggle up to the money teat.Whatever the metric, Spencer and I tend toward the being apart, which is probably why I enjoyed this conversation so much. There was a lot of dishing on favorite bands — Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, Dawes — and a thruline of mutual revelry in the joy of making art for its own sake.We got so carried away talking and listening that I nearly forgot to ask him to play my favorite song from his record, Little Gold. Glad to say we got it in there.Spencer is having a real artistic moment. You get the feeling that — after ten years of trying stuff, making up songs alone and with kindred, looking for his own orbit in the music of the spheres, he’s finally hitting on something. Teetering on the fulcrum of his own invention. It felt good for me to catch him mid-stroke on an upward swing.On this day of thanks I want to thank YOU for being part of this Morse Code Community. Ours is a motley collective and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I love you guys so much. As Big Tech and Big Money and Bigness in general continue their march on our little patch of sacred humanity, I’m here for you, the artist. I have been in love my whole life with grouchy authors, unknown poets, quiet folksingers, radiant actors, the horse whisperers of culture, all, these fringey wonders who prioritize self-expression over self. My purpose for Morse Code is to celebrate you, inspire you, encourage you to thrash around inside yourself and see what’s going on in there. The guests on this show are doing it. You can too. Personally, whether I’m writing a song or a short story or making a film, I’m in the meaning business. And meaning isn’t something you find, once and for all. You discover a little bit more, every day. But only if you try.If you get something out of the Morse Code Podcast, please like and subscribe on your favorite listening platform, follow us on IG, and if you have a sec, write us a five star review on apple podcasts. Anything you can do goes a long way to helping us bring this mission to more and more people. And if you’d like to become a paid subscriber, that would be wonderful too. Whatever you do, we’ll keep showing up, week after week, to talk to these amazing talents and see what makes them glow so bright.I wish you all the wonder of being alive. Thank you for being here. -Korby Get full access to Morse Code with Korby Lenker at korby.substack.com/subscribe