Eddie Owen Presents Songwriters In-The-Round with Hannah Thomas + Wyatt Espalin + Emily Kate Boyd

In the days of AM radio music only had one genre, today there are labels for all different kinds of music, but Hannah Thomas has never liked labels, or playing just one kind of music. Amy Ray (of the Indigo Girls) describes Hannah’s music best. (Hannah has) "the soul of old country, and that will always be there, but she's also a die hard rocker with some punk thrown in the mix" (Spring 2013 issue Georgia Music Magazine)
And Hannah has been playing that music for everyone who will listen. Having played over 200 shows in the past 18 months in more places than she can count, she also made time to record the 7 songs on her newest studio CD, “Goodbye on Wasted Time”

“Music is all I think about” says Thomas. And you can hear that dedication in her songs. From the soulful bluesy “Church on Friday” to the tale of life in the country (“Watch Out for the Deer”) to rockers like “Goodbye on Wasted Time and “Pacifier” (the latter featuring Amy Ray on guest vocals) Hannah keeps her audience’s attention by never having two songs sound the same.

And there is no denying Hannah has what it takes to move to the next level. Eddie Owen (founder Eddie’s Attic, now at Georgia’s Red Clay Theatre) was asked about Hannah for a recent issue of Georgia Music Magazine and said “For any performing songwriter to advance through the levels, several common variables are required – talent, an unending discipline and work ethic, no hesitancy in self-assurance and self-promotion, and an unending desire to learn and become better. If one has all that there is still the ‘being in the right place at the right time’ factor. Hannah has the first four factors, so when that opportunity comes, she’ll be ready.”

Wyatt Espalin

With the Ocoee River in East Tennessee as the backdrop, and North Georgia on the horizon, Wyatt Espalin’s debut album, The Pardon (April, 2013), was born. Entertaining audiences in his hometown of Hiawassee, Georgia as early as age eleven, Wyatt’s passion for music was obvious, even from the barn room stage built by his grandfather. He and his brother Matt were known as “The Fiddling Brothers.” While Matt hung up his fiddle and bow after high school, Wyatt was just getting started. Armed with a guitar and a desire to write songs, he paired with Cobi Ferguson to form the acclaimed Americana duo, Trees Leave. Combining electric guitar with traditional bluegrass roots led to a noticeably unique sound and a growing fan base. Having years of touring under their belts and two successful albums, Run (2008) and The Gospel of Hurt (2010), it was time for Cobi to settle down, and Wyatt to find a new setting fit for a more personal level of songwriting. So alone began his sabbatical to the Ocoee, and his debut album, The Pardon, which in ten songs provides ten glimpses into breakups, burdens, colorful britches, and the light on the other side of it all. 

Emily Kate Boyd


Under her current moniker of Billie in the Woods, songwriter Emily Kate Boyd creates threads of Americana that draw inspiration from the Appalachian traditions, Jazz and Gypsy Blues. As a performing songwriter, she's a poet and storyteller, making a live performance an entirely original and deeply heartfelt experience. Her hometown is Chattanooga, Tennessee.