Verlon has had songs recorded by... Balladeers: Kenny Rogers, Anne Murray, Barbara Mandrell. Bluegrassers: Del McCoury Band, Sam Bush. Country Girls: Pam Tillis, Trisha Yearwood, Suzy Bogguss. Country Boys: Randy Travis, Joe Diffie,Tracy Byrd, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Folk Troubadours: Guy Clark, Jerry Jeff Walker, Darrell Scott. *see discography for complete list of songs recorded

TIMELINE 1977 Arrived in Denver Colorado. Recorded solo album. 1978-1981 Performed in Rocky Mountain Region with Verlon Thompson Band. 1981 Arrived Nashville Tn. Signed with Lorretta Lynn’s Coal Miners Music. 1983 Signed with EMI Music. 1987 Began working with Guy Clark on "Old Friends". 1990 Recorded "Verlon Thompson" for Capitol Records. 1995 Established VNS Records. Released "Anything Goes" and "Out of Our Hands" with Suzi Ragsdale. 1999 Signed with Froehlig Palmer/Famous Music. 1999 Co Produced Guy Clark’s #1 Americana album "Cold Dog Soup" on Sugar Hill Records. 2000 Released "Out At The Barn" a live recording in Verlon’s home/barn featuring guests Guy Clark, Darrell Scott, Jellyroll Johnson, Suzi Ragsdale, Andrea Zonn, Alison Prestwood, Larry Marrs and John Gardner. 2003 Relaeased "Everywhere...Yet" ATTENTION MEDIA AGENTS click here to downlaod a 300dpi high quality press photo suitable for print publications.

THE START
My great grandfather, Sam Hunt, arrived in the great Oklahoma Landrush to make a claim and homestead on the banks of Willow Creek in Caddo County. He always loved the song "Red River Valley." He gave me an old guitar and asked if I would learn that tune for him. Too small to reach around the neck, I would lay the guitar flat on my lap and play the melody with my left thumb fretting the strings.

INSPIRATION
I picked on Mom’s mandolin, Uncle Kenneth’s guitar, Aunt Bessie’s piano, Cousin Elmer Dee’s lap steel and any other instrument I could get my hands on. Mom showed me everything she knew and those basics are still the core of my playing style. Early songwriting inspiration came from Merle Haggard, Lefty Frizzell, Buck Owens and Roger Miller.

As a teenager, I wrote songs about Mama and prison and introspective pieces like, "What Would This Worle Ever Come To If There Were No Love Anywhere" also my longest title to date. I was an occasional guest member of a family band, The Little Okies. The drummer was an eight year old girl. Her two sisters played guitar and bass and the brother played steel guitar. I joined them on stage to open the show for Mel Tillis before a packed Ardmore Civic Auditorium, and brought the house down.

That might be the night that showbiz invaded my body and soul.

EDUCATION
After high school, I went on an international tour, courtesy of Uncle Sam, where I continued my musical studies. I played many nights on the veranda with my Greek landlord who played the bouzouki. I tried to keep up with the flamenco players in Spain.
I learned a thing or two one night in South Florida, when I was joined onstage by Gatemouth Brown. I made the CBS Evening News in 1975 with a song I wrote about a hardass motorcycle cop, rumored to have ticketed a speeding train.

Exhausted and in need of home cooking, I returned to Oklahoma, where I received a letter from some friends. They invited me to visit them and check out the ski towns. They thought I could make a killing performing in the lodges for all the rich tourists.
A week later, those friends were the proud owner of a pet musician, unemployed and living in their basement.

ROCK AND ROLL
I did find gigs in the ski towns. With the few dollars I saved and a loan from Dad, I rented a studio, rented and played all the instruments, and recorded an album. Having never been in a studio before, the tracks were technically rough, but all heart. Most significant was the new experience of watching self-penned words and music come to life.

A band formed around me, and we quickly learned that we could eat more regularly if we played songs that people knew. For four years I kept writing and trying to sneak in an "original" here and there, until finally, I heard about something called a "staff writer".

HONKY TONK DIPLOMA
A former bandmate called from Nashville. He thought I could make a killing writing songs for other people. I might even get an advance, maybe $150 a week, just to sit in a room and make stuff up. A few months later I became a Nashville resident and staff writer for Lorretta Lynn’s publishing company, Coal Miners Music. For two years, I was an excellent tax write off for Mrs. Lynn. Then, thanks to Jimmy Gilmer of the Fireballs and "Sugar Shack" fame and veteran songman Wayland Holyfield, I signed with CBS Songs, which later became EMI Music, one of the worlds largest publishing houses.

That partnership continued for 13 years. Creative freedom and access to the EMI in-house studio inspired a catalog of songs that would be recorded by 1980’s artists like Randy Travis, Kenny Rogers, Barbara Mandrell, Keith Whitley, Anne Murray, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and others.

Good fortune continued through the 90’s with cuts by Joe Diffie, Billy Dean, Suzy Bogguss, Pam Tillis, Trisha Yearwood, Beth Nielson Chapman and more.

Ten of those songs would become athe 1990 Capitol Records release VERLON THOMPSON. Produced by Blake Chancey now of Dixie Chicks fame, the project was lauded by critics and ignored by radio. My lifelong dream of a music career hadn’t included accountants, publicists and self inflated radio consultants. Disillusioned and creatively drained, I was pointed towards Oklahoma and that good home cooking, when…..

DETOUR
Enter Guy Clark……Texas singer/songwriter and driver of a rusted yellow International Scout.

Clark, equally unimpressed by his major label experience was searching for new ground as well. I was enlisted to help out on guitar and vocals and a few months later, Guy emerged from the tiny basement studio with his first record in a dozen years. It was called "Old Friends." And we were.

I had never been a sideman, but Guy convinced me to hit the road with him in support of the new record.
I found a new musical world in the theaters, small clubs and folk festivals. "Poetic listeners" I once called them; a little more in tune with the fine art of lyric and melody.

We were two guitars and two voices……and this troubadour style suited me just fine.

AND NOW
Today my adventures with Guy continue. Apart from some time out for a couple of projects with Suzi Ragsdale, that Texan and this Okie have been at it for over a decade. I’ve been a part of every Guy Clark record since "Old Friends" and was flattered to gain producer status on "Cold Dog Soup". Maesrto Clark’s influence is undeniable in my performing style, songwriting, and guitar technique. I also built my first Flamenco guitar under Maestro Clarks supervision

I do as many solo performances as schedules will allow. I also continue to write and have recently had my songs interpreted by Sam Bush, The Del McCoury Band, Jerry Jeff Walker, Darrell Scott and Guy Clark.

DISCOGRAPHY