MySpace a place for friends

Texas native and relative newcomer to the Texas music scene, singer/songwriter Tom Cheatham is the product of deep southern roots, a love affair with Austin, his hometown Dallas, and one inspiring rehearsal dinner.

Picking up and giving up the guitar as a kid – like so many kids do – Cheatham never strayed too far from his love of music. However it wasn’t until he moved to Austin to attend the University of Texas that Cheatham finally dusted off that old guitar for good. A mecca for live music, he immersed himself in Austin’s culture and began to hone his own musical talents.

“The first time I ever really played for a large audience was at a friend’s rehearsal dinner,” Cheatham recalls. “Instead of giving a toast, I played a song that I wrote with a college buddy of mine. It’s just a funny, guy’s guy song roasting the groom and his single life, but it was that performance that left me wanting more.” ” His passion for performing was the catalyst that transitioned Cheatham’s music career from hobby to livelihood.

Cheatham played local bars, clubs and open mics around Dallas. As he began developing his own unique style, his writing intensified as well. More original music opened doors to new venues and new opportunities.

Drawing from influences ranging from country legends Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings to definitive music greats U2 and Pearl Jam, as well as many of today’s songwriters, including Chris Knight and Walt Wilkins, Cheatham found his voice. And today, he delivers that voice in his own distinctive dirty, gritty, soulful way on his debut album Restless Soul.

Music is intensely personal, Cheatham says. Behind his writing is the belief that the real power of a great song is its ability to speak to each person that hears it in a way that is unique to their own experiences. It is this attitude and passion that fuels the often emotional, sometimes longing, sometimes hopeful styling’s of Cheatham’s original tracks.

Throughout the album, listeners will identify with Cheatham as he croons about age-old struggles between dreams and expectations, courage in spite of failure, and creating a version of your life that’s worth living. Scheduled for wide release in late 2008, Restless Soul is sure to mark the beginning of this songwriter’s journey through music.

“Music to me, at its best, is honest and real and that’s how I approach every song I have ever written. I want to make music that affects people the way music affects me.” With a little bit of a restless soul in each of us, it’s hard not to listen.