Thomas Dollbaum, it might sound, is the beneficiary of excellent timing. His wonderful new album, Birds Of Paradise (out Friday), consists of countryish rock songs set within the seedier corners of his native Florida. Dollbaum, 32 and at the moment residing in New Orleans, has an MFA in poetry and sings in a conversational drawl that conveys southernness regardless of his lack of a pronounced accent. (He sounds a bit like Bobby Charles, an iconic scion of his adopted hometown who has an analogous “man you may meet on the dive bar” high quality.) Most notably — from a industrial perspective — the brand new file was made with MJ Lenderman, the present main practitioner of this sort of music in indie rock. You may hear Lenderman’s voice singing backup on the one “Coyote” (one in every of 2026’s finest songs), the place it performs the Adam Duritz position to Dollbaum’s brawny lead vox.
However Dollbaum has really been sitting on Birds Of Paradise for years now. Three years, in actual fact. Not lengthy after the discharge of his promising 2022 debut Wellswood — and across the time he recorded the acclaimed 2025 EP Drive All Night time — Dollbaum gathered some mates and fellow vacationers at a studio in Water Valley, Mississippi in 2023. Amongst them was Lenderman, nonetheless a yr away from placing out his breakthrough Manning Fireworks, who was recruited to play drums. (He later added guitar to 1 tune, the standout “Dozen Roses,” in addition to harmonies on a handful of tracks.) Dollbaum taught the ad-hoc band his songs, after which recorded them, in simply 4 days.
After which … he waited. A falling out together with his previous label over the dreaded “artistic variations” put the brakes on Birds Of Paradise. Lastly, the rising indie Pricey Life Data — house to foundational 2020s alt-country acts Fust and Florry, in addition to Lenderman’s Boat Songs – agreed to place it out, although additionally they needed to wait some time earlier than their slate was open.
Once I requested Dollbaum — who seems ruggedly good-looking together with his stable jaw and beach-blonde hair over Zoom — about this seemingly interminable lag between creation and launch, he’s surprisingly laid again in regards to the inconvenience. “I imply, there was some time I felt slightly within the wilderness. Nobody actually was taking a look at it that a lot. Then Pricey Life had reached out, however they had been simply busy. They solely do a specific amount of information a yr,” he shrugged. “I feel they deliberate on placing it out a yr and a half in the past. I used to be like, ‘Effectively, I’ve already waited virtually half a yr, a yr, so why not simply wait and put it out with some individuals I like?’”
Dollbaum is equally noncommittal after I suggest that the delay may be a superb factor, since there’s an actual viewers for his sort of music now. “I don’t assume it hurts, in any respect,” he replied. “I feel it additionally obtained the period of time it wanted to be digested, even by me. Took some time to get all the things so as. It’s in a superb place, prefer it’s the very best model of itself it may be. It’s humorous, even with Jake, once we recorded it, Manning Fireworks hadn’t even come out but. It’s humorous to see the place he’s at now.”
Regardless of his informal demeanor, Dollbaum seems to me like a possible star, at the very least within the more and more crowded scene he populates. On songs like “Florida” and “Whippits/Trailer Lights,” he reveals a pure storytelling means imbued with the regional specificity that’s set Lenderman and Karly Hartzman aside in that world. His work is populated by down-and-out losers and drifters searching for a break or perhaps only a heat mattress for the evening. This immersive high quality carries over to new tracks like “Large Boi,” primarily based on a real story about two drug addicts Dollbaum inadvertently wound up taxiing round one morning on the best way to an area “tablet mill.”
Comparisons to Lenderman — in addition to older indie troubadours like Damien Jurado, an acknowledged affect — are apparent. However Dollbaum’s music has an additional layer of sturdy, heartland rock muscle that additionally places him within the Jason Isbell zone. Like Isbell, Dollbaum is an acolyte of John Prine, and that Americana pressure must make Birds Of Paradise an object of obsession for that viewers as soon as they get round to listening to it.
We’re on this second the place any indie-rock man who performs guitar in a country-rock vein will inevitably be likened to MJ Lenderman. Is that ever a burden or annoying for you?
Not notably. I imply, I feel the rationale we most likely turned mates is due to comparable style and what we like writing. I don’t assume actually it’s that a lot of a coincidence. All of the people who find themselves doing this fashion of music know one another. Colin Miller is an efficient buddy of mine. I met him by means of Jake. Friendship I knew by means of Jake. It’s like, after you’ve been touring, you sort of discover the individuals that you just’re like, “Oh, I like their music.” And then you definitely wish to do stuff with them. I simply did a run with Fust and Merce Lemon and I really like their music.
How have you learnt Jake?
I met him earlier than in Asheville, proper earlier than Boat Songs was popping out. I used to be taking part in a present, and he got here out as a result of my buddy Ashleigh Bryant Phillips is aware of him and she or he invited him out. Then we simply talked and frolicked after the present and have become fairly fast mates. We had been speaking about doing reveals and he needed to see if I needed to play the Boat Songs launch. So, I got here up and did the discharge present.
His backing vocals are actually distinctive on the file. The best way you guys harmonize is one in every of my favourite components of “Coyote.”
We recorded the entire session after which he was like, “Oh, I may do harmonies on ‘Coyote’ in order for you.” After which he did that, and I used to be like, “It is best to do a pair extra. I feel it sounds good,” and he got here up with the “Pulverize” and the “Waterbird” backing vocals.
You reside in New Orleans now however you’re initially from Florida. It looks like Florida looms giant in your songs.
I’ve by no means actually been ready to consider New Orleans as a setting, as a result of I’m not from right here and it’s a spot I really feel like you need to be from when you’re going to jot down about it. Probably sooner or later I’d write about New Orleans, however I don’t actually know what I’d do about it. There’s so many Louisiana songs, it’s insane.
Is there one thing about Florida that appeals to you as a topic past simply being from there?
I assume it at all times appears like the house mentally for me, the place issues exist.
You appear notably drawn to the seedy aspect of Florida.
I imply, Florida’s simply actually a transient place. So, rising up there, it was at all times felt that far more than… I wouldn’t even say that I grew up in it, however it simply at all times appeared round. It’s only a very transient place to me. And sort of misunderstood in quite a lot of methods.
As an outsider, that a part of Florida looks like its personal taste of southernness. Just like the South on steroids. It looks like a bastion of grifters and serial killers and outsiders making their final stand.
I don’t actually consider it because the South. It’s sort of its personal factor. However it does positively have quite a lot of elements of the South. Like, previous Florida persons are about as Southern as you will get.
Once I was rising up, I wasn’t in Tampa correct. I went to highschool half the time in nation Florida after which half the time nearer to the town. It’s a bizarre place. The general public aren’t from there. Even my dad and mom aren’t from Florida. They moved there within the ’80s. It’s sort of a spot individuals go to start out over.
It’s like a much less glamorous Hollywood.
Yeah, it’s very Midwest. Individuals at all times say when you’re coming down 95 on the west coast, it’s principally New Yorkers who moved down. After which the Midwest normally populates quite a lot of my a part of Florida. There’s a ton of individuals from Ohio. Lots of people from Texas. Individuals simply go there as a result of it’s fairly good. I feel lots of people transfer there considering that they’re going to vary, however they don’t actually change. They’re simply in a nicer setting. So, when you’re a redneck from Ohio and also you moved there, it’s going to be the identical life. It’s simply going to be slightly nicer out. Nothing actually will get higher except you get higher.
However at the very least you’re not freezing chilly.
Florida’s modified a lot even since I’ve moved away. It was once actually fairly affordable to dwell in Tampa. It’s not anymore. It’s actually costly now. There’s been instances I’ve considered shifting again simply because my household’s all down there, and I go to loads. I simply love the pure world of Florida. It’s sort of subtropical however not likely, but additionally sort of prairie, too. It’s not likely like Louisiana. It’s much less swampy, however it does have a swamp. I imply, it’s a large swamp in some methods.
When did you begin taking part in music?
I had some mates that had been in DIY punk scenes in Tampa, and I used to go to quite a lot of punk reveals. However the sort of music I appreciated taking part in was not likely that. There wasn’t that large of a scene that I may discover. Perhaps it was there. I simply didn’t see it.
Did you play the sort of music you do now?
Oh, no. It was nothing like that. I at all times appreciated this fashion of music, however I used to be in a reggae band for some time.
What was the reggae band like?
Just about straight covers. Type of jam-bandy.
Like, Rusted Root?
Extra like Chic. Very Florida vibe.
So, it was like, “The singer-songwriter storytelling stuff isn’t going to attract a crowd, so let’s play the Chic stuff”?
Yeah. If we do covers, individuals will present up.
What songwriters impressed you?
Rising up, I actually beloved Dylan, after which I actually obtained into John Prine. After which after I obtained slightly older, it was Damien Jurado, after which all of the ’90s guys after I was in early school or late highschool. I listened to some Neil Younger. I wasn’t as into Neil after I was youthful as I’m now. I’ve grown to understand Neil extra, as I’ve gotten older.
You additionally remind me slightly — due to the “seedy character” material — of Zevon and Todd Snider.
Yeah, I actually love Zevon. I haven’t listened to Todd Snider. I have to dig into him. I feel I would really like it.
Your tune “Large Boi” sits in that lane. That’s primarily based on a real story, proper?
Yeah, I met these individuals out at a Waffle Home. Their automotive was damaged down, after which I simply spent an insane morning with them. I used to be simply making an attempt to assist them out, however I obtained deeper and deeper into hanging out with them. I spent six hours with them. They’d two children within the again, and so they had canine. I took them to the AutoZone and a pair different spots. After which they had been like, “Can you’re taking me to the pharmacy?” We ended up going to a tablet mill, and so they got here out with a ton of medicine, after which I used to be like, ” I’m in a scenario now.” However it ended up being nice.
What’s a tablet mill?
In Florida, that they had legal guidelines the place you may purchase as many opiates as you need. For those who needed to get 400 hydrocodone for some motive, they’d simply log off. There have been no legal guidelines in opposition to it. So, individuals would drive from the northeast, purchase a thousand drugs, after which drive house. There could be these pharmacies that may pop up in gasoline stations. However all they had been actually doing was promoting hydrocodone and Roxies.
Do you assume you had been, consciously or not, in search of materials in that scenario?
I imply, I’ve at all times been fairly open to individuals. I used to present individuals rides loads after I was youthful. I don’t actually do this as a lot anymore. However there was some time in highschool the place I’d give individuals rides, simply take them to the bus cease or one thing.
These experiences actually repay in your songwriting.
I don’t assume I considered it that approach. I feel that you find yourself gathering stuff over time. However that’s simply a part of assembly individuals.
