Today we’d like to introduce you to Thompson Newkirk.

Hi Thompson, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.

Well, for me, playing music and pursuing a life in the entertainment business is just what I do. It’s what I have always done. You can feel it when you are on set, or on stage, or even just writing and recording music – this is where I am supposed to be. After I graduated from high school, I had the plan to go to college, major in music, graduate, and move to a city to pursue a career in music. When I was twenty-two, my father suddenly died and that definitely had an impact on me. Sometimes you don’t realize until later what it is that you were doing to get through a certain period of life. I lost focus for a few years and just kinda lived. At twenty-four I started to get serious again and directed my focus to TV/Film. It came around very organically because there was always an opportunity to audition, even for something like a student film. Eventually I ended up getting cast in some smaller TV shows. Throughout the process of auditioning and being on set, I met people and one of the people that I met was someone who is still a friend today. She told me that I ought to consider moving to NYC to pursue acting. There was definitely a process of getting to NYC. I came to NYC and began auditioning and playing music as well. After a certain point, and I’m not really sure when that was, I began to focus more on music rather than acting. Maybe it was the opportunity to play in front of people, or maybe it was frustration of auditioning, and possibly a combination of both. As I mentioned before, I have played music since I was a kid, so I just kind figured I was decent and good. When you move to New York or Los Angeles or Nashville, it’s normal to think that you are special and that you are bringing something to the table that no one has ever seen before. It’s good to have this confidence, but you quickly realize that your looks, playing ability and personality are not what will bring you success. I would go see other people play, as I still do, and I’ll tell you what, damn they can play. It makes you want to get home and practice. So there’s a process. I began releasing original music and playing shows and networking as I did with TV/Film. I think however it is a very different animal the music business as opposed to the TV/Film industry. It’s all show business bust specifically, I think that there are different expectations from the performers for each one. With music, especially starting out, it can be hard to bring people out to a performance but that is the first thing that promoters and agents want to know. It has to be a labor of love, otherwise you’ll drive yourself crazy, and you may say that I’m crazy 🤣
The more you do however shows you how much you can do and if you set actual reachable goals for yourself, you can accomplish quite a bit.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?

Nothing about the pursuit of breaking into the TV/Film business has been easy, but I’d say that any life worth living comes with its own bag of good and bad. It’s not about living easy, it’s about living the life that you want.
The main struggles in pursuit of this life are probably the three main struggles that affect everyone; time, money, and trying to stand out in a world that is full of shiny objects and loud noises. It’s also important to remember that having the opportunity to pursue the life that you want is in and of itself privilege and luxury. It is one of the main aspects that I hold onto and that keeps me going. Some people don’t have the opportunity to pursue the life that they want.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?

I am a storyteller and I have a culture to spread.

Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?

Everyone in my family has always been in support of my pursuits. I am fortunate to have the family and friends that I do. We expect the best out of each other.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://thompsonnewkirk.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thompsonnewkirk/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tcnewkirk
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thompsonnewkirk
• Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/thompson-newkirk

Image Credits

Andrew White

Michael Todaro

Guy Marino

Michelle Lobianco

Ambika Verma