http://ellisguitars.com/ http://jamesmichaelthompson.com Blending the sounds of Delta slide greats such as Blind Willie Johnson and Robert Johnson with his own eclectic past experience and training in classical guitar and heavy metal, Tompo is a 27 year old Australian blues musician with a big voice and a quietly endearing stage presence, using his guitars, blues harp, stomp-box and shakers to convey his heartfelt songs of 'good news blues.' James Michael Thompson sound has been honed and refined by the influences of Jeff Lang, John Lee Hooker, Lloyd Spiegel, Paul Simon and Skip James. Beginning to gig in earnest in late 2004, James Michael Thompson credits include debuting at the acclaimed Bridgetown Blues Festival in 2005; supports for 'The Bondi Cigars and Lloyd Spiegel at the Perth Blues Club, hosting the Melbourne Blues Appreciation Society's (MBAS) blues night at the Cornish Arms and demonstrating the one-of-a-kind Ellis Guitars Seven String Resonator at the Frankston Guitar Festival in 2005. James Michael Thompson has also performed alongside the likes of Collard, Greens and Gravy; The Black Sorrows and Guy Davis at the Mordialloc Music by the Bay; Queensland songsmiths Loren & Marcus Bancroft; as well as performing on the same bill as Michael Franti and Jamie Cullum at the West Coast Blues and Roots Festival. James Michael Thompson recorded his first E.P 'Light Your Way' in 2005, which has found its way into homes across Australia and has received airplay on local, national and international radio. The track 'Broken Bone Blues' was a finalist in the Western Australian Music Industry (WAM) Song of the Year contest for 2005. He may be still a relative stranger to the Australian music scene but James Michael Thompson is fast winning fans and praise country-wide. He has been described by Sonia Meggs, the President of the MBAS as a 'true bluesman': "At a very young age James Michael Thompson has captured the blues and made it his own. You will be enthralled by his presentation and style of ...