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“In my most introspective moments, I feel like I have something to prove,” says Houston-born Americana artist Thomas Csorba. 

This sense of purpose comes through in the collection of bittersweet confessionals and poignant vignettes that make up his second full-length album. Produced by Beau Bedford (Paul Cauthen, Texas Gentleman), the self-titled LP finds Csorba wrestling with the past and reckoning with his future. 

Thomas had a productive 2019, wrapping work on the record, completing his undergraduate studies and getting engaged. Just as soon as he graduated, Thomas jumped from Waco to Dallas where he could be closer to his producer, his band, and most importantly, his fiancé, Alex.

That was in January of 2020. By spring, Thomas was supposed to be on tour. He was also supposed to be married. Neither of those things happened.

As it has for many, the first half of this year has shaken up Csorba’s best laid plans. The Covid-19 crisis delayed the couple’s wedding, just as it derailed the touring industry and plunged the music business into uncertainty.  Thomas found solace in his work, even writing and recording several additional songs for the album. In spite of the uncertainty around him, Csorba has created something that brims with self assuredness. 

Thomas has been writing and performing since his early teens, playing shows at historic Texas venues like the Cactus Cafe in Austin and the Mucky Duck in Houston. He put out his first independent EP while still attending Houston’s Memorial High School.

By the time he departed for college, he was already working on the collection of tunes that would make up his full-length debut, 2017’s From the Foxhole. The breakout set reveals a storyteller’s wit and a roots-rocker’s abiding sense of history.

This promise is yet more fully realized on Thomas Csorba. A collection of westerns with a touch of the dust bowl blues, the album moves effortlessly between big country Texas tales and tender bedroom intimacy. Thomas spins expansive stories with a cast of aimless travelers, stubbled loners, and yellowing family portraits.

The emotional stakes feel heightened on his newest batch of tunes. So what changed for Thomas in the years between his first and second independent releases?

”It’s been an illuminating season for me. I’ve found my future wife, graduated from college, and positioned myself between some really incredible musicians.”

All of this has given Thomas a new outlook on songwriting, and on himself.

“My fiancé taught me that I don’t have to take myself so seriously...There’s this self consciousness you have about yourself. When you realize that people don't care, you can let go of that. There is no place for ego here.”

This perspective also helped Csorba forge a deeper connection with his musical roots. Csorba’s songwriting echoes the concise power and evocative delivery of another Texas troubadour. 

“I grew up down in Houston, and my mom’s a born-and-bred Texas gal. So she sang me Willie Nelson songs to sleep every night when I was a kid.”

Willie Nelson’s heartbreak and humor flow through Csorba like a river of whiskey. But Willie’s influence would loom larger yet in his life. It was the Red Headed Stranger who played host on the day that Thomas met his producer and future bandmates. In 2018, Thomas played Luck Reunion, the famous annual SXSW side-bash held at Willie’s ranch just outside of Austin.

“That was one of the first big stages that I played. I got to meet Beau and The Texas Gents out there. They ended up becoming a massive part of my record and they became close friends of mine. It was a really serendipitous thing.”

A songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Beau still played as part of The Texas Gentlemen at the time of their meeting. Today, Beau focuses almost entirely on production. Prior to producing and mixing Thomas Csorba at Modern Electric Sound Recordings in Dallas, Beau notched production credits for Paul Cauthen, Quaker City Night Hawks, and the Texas Gentlemen themselves. 

In Csorba’s rootsy charm and earnest delivery, Beau saw a perfect match for his former bandmates, now a highly sought-after collective of ace studio musicians. The Texas Gentlemen have also backed Leon Bridges, George Strait, and Kris Kristofferson on tour.

The Gentlemen bring an earthy charm and southern swagger to Csorba’s eponymous release. As a supporting cast, the band electrifies Csorba’s performances, stretching the perfect canvas for his distinctive portraits. But there’s more to it than that. These musicians had a blast playing together, and it comes through on the record.

“These guys made the recording process really fun,” Csorba says. “That’s a really special thing—people that are such masters at what they do but can also make you feel welcome—that see you and understand your vision.”

Of this distinctive vision, Thomas says, “It's funny...I'm not creating red dirt or outlaw country or whatever you want to call it...I don't want to pigeonhole myself into that. I think making music is something way more fluid.”

In fact, there is something fluid, and comforting, in Csorba’s delivery. He breathes in the same dusty air as those outlaws and cowboys, but he exhales with an easy southern breeze.

On “Another Man in Me,” he takes his soul-searching for a walk alongside a sunny country stream. On “Heartache After Heartache,” pedal steel (courtesy of Brian Douglas Phillips) bobs along a glassy surface as Thomas meditates on regret; “Crooked Kind of Free” rushes alongside a highway, bending and breaking under a big sky; “Walking Sideways” skips like a stone over a swimming hole, splashing up the kind of winking one-liners you’d see scratched into a pack of cigarettes on Roger Miller’s nightstand.

Though Thomas completed work on his new album while still in school, the plan was to hold off on release until graduation so he could tour full-time, both solo on a slate of prominent opening slots, and with The Texas Gentlemen at select release parties.

“This spring was really supposed to be, you know, a finger-to-the-bone kind of touring.”

Then the pandemic struck. Like every other musician on the planet, Thomas was forced to adjust. What was to be a busy year of roads and rest-stops has instead been spent in reflection and recalibration. Thomas is philosophical about the experience.

“I'm learning that things happen for a reason. Being able to slow down in this way has been really great for my spirit.”

Ironically, it’s also been great for connecting with new fans, especially online."I’m under the impression that we have a really captivated audience right now,” he says.  “You know... people discovering new music is at an all-time high.”

Those who discover Csorba today will find a voice with grit and gravel beyond the singer’s years, but a searching spirit and sense of purpose that suggest his youth.

“Every question that I face in this season of life seems to be the biggest question,” Thomas observes. “You know...what am I gonna make of myself? What am I going to mean to other people? What am I going to leave behind? I think those are American questions. It’s part of the water I grew up drinking.”