Thom Donovan

Thom Donovan
Thom Donovan performing with Lapush at the Duck Room in St. Louis, MO 2008.
Background information
Birth name	Thomas Joseph Donovan
Born	(1974-07-24) July 24, 1974 (age 42)
Origin	St. Louis, Missouri, United States
Occupation(s)	Guitarist, Songwriter, Singer, Producer
Instruments	Guitar, Voice, Bass, Keyboards
Years active	1995–present
Associated acts	Lapush, Wyclef Jean, Will Hoge, Ruby Amanfu, Rossi, Kendall Morgan, Shelly Fairchild, Stir

Thom Donovan (born Thomas Joseph Donovan, July 24, 1974, in St. Louis, Missouri) is an American musician, guitarist, songwriter and producer. He has released three solo albums and is best known as the lead vocalist and guitarist of the band Lapush. His international performance career has included concerts across the United States as well as cities around the world. Donovan's music frequently appears in film and television. He has a recurring role in the ABC musical drama series, Nashville, as a musician.

Of Irish/Italian descent, Donovan, the middle of three children, was born in St. Louis, MO. His father's record collection (filled with Motown, Elvis and The Beatles) had a huge influence on him. Thom Donovan began playing guitar at the age of four. He grew up in a lower-middle-class neighborhood in a suburb 25 miles west of St. Louis, MO. Donovan attended Catholic school. Although raised Catholic, he describes himself as an atheist and is outspoken in his support of teaching Evolution in school. As a child, Donovan was a fan of classical music and studied classical guitar under John McClellan (Luciano Pavarotti). Thom Donovan was educated at Lindenwood University where he graduated with a BA in Music. At Lindenwood, Donovan performed in a master class with Scott Tennant of the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet.

Early work (1995–2000)

While in college, Thom Donovan formed a duo with his brother, Stephen Donovan, called Elevator to a Penthouse. The duo's primary influences were Velvet Underground and the sounds of Motown; which the brothers had discovered in their father's record collection. An album, bigelectricheart, was recorded on 8-track, half-inch tape.