Garrett Thorn opens at Hodag Country Fest as musical journey grows in Nashville, beyond

Garrett Thorn has come a long way in his musical journey.

From performing for friends and classmates at Three Lakes High School functions nearly 20 years ago to being the opening entertainer at last weekend’s Hodag Country Fest, Thorn has climbed the ladder in the entertainment business.

The Sugar Camp native previously performed at the Hodag with the group The Northern Lights, but this was his first visit to the popular Rhinelander music festival as a solo artist.

“Performing at the Hodag with The Northern Lights was very special. We functioned as a collective group, so I was responsible for about one-third of the songs that were written,” said Thorn. “It was special and different in a variety of ways this time. I love coming back home and contributing to the arts in the Northwoods, and I’ve been touring up here under my own name each summer collecting fans along the way. Giving the people of the Northwoods more opportunities to connect to my music helps make these types of moments more special.”

Thorn said the Hodag Country Fest was the place that got him thinking about a move to Nashville.

“I was in attendance around the years of 2012 to 2015 and observed what great music can do for people, particularly in rural areas like where we are from in northern Wisconsin,” said Thorn. “Music is a universal language and connects with people of all walks of life. I feel honored to be able to join the other artists on the main stage of Hodag as someone who grew up in the lakes of the Northwoods. I am really grateful to be able to spend time with Wisconsinites in the name of music.”

Thorn, 34, said it’s important for him to come back to the Northwoods and contribute to the local music scene.

“I want to contribute to the type of (musical) growth that I wish was here when I was a kid,” he said. “I would have done anything to have live music from Nashville accessible to me as a kid, I was hungry for great things. We always had to travel out of the area to find those things when I was growing up. I’d love to expand that more in the future with a concert series that donates to the local music programs in our schools.”

Thorn, a 2010 graduate of Three Lakes High School, got started in music at a young age.

”I started playing piano at 6 years old, which was not fun for an elementary school kid. I wanted to quit, but my mom said that if I quit music, I also had to quit basketball as well . . . she wanted to raise a house of well rounded boys. I got inspired to play guitar at age 12,” said Thorn. “We would get gifted an album in our Christmas stocking every year and that year I got The Beatles, one album, a collection of all their No. 1 hits. When I heard ‘Come Together’ for the first time, it was like I’d seen the world in color and before that it was black and white.”

Thorn started performing at school functions and would literally take his guitar into classes all the time. He started hosting the school’s talent show at Three Lakes when he was a sophomore in high school, and continued on to play in bars, fairs and theaters after he graduated.

“While attending Saint Norbert College, I played shows every Tuesday night at a bar on the De Pere downtown strip to make some extra cash while at college, developing a following and then Tuesday nights became a staple for the student body,” he said. “I ended up playing the college’s annual block party three times with my family band (Ross Thorn, Ryan Wallis and Mike Maney).”

Move to Nashville

The musical growth during college inspired Thorn to take the next step and move to Nashville to pursue songwriting and original music.

“Moving to Nashville really illuminated how much work I needed to put into my music in order to be ready for bigger stages,” he said. “I was good enough for bars, but not good enough to record live. After a few years in Nashville, I started finding my way into special opportunities. While playing in the Honky-Tonks of Lower Broadway in Nashville, I got discovered by a group of club owners in Switzerland who invite a small group of artists to come over and perform at clubs and festivals. I’ve traveled over there every year since 2017 and am developing a very strong following in Switzerland as well as the surrounding countries.”

After The Northern Lights started dissolving in the wake of the 2020 pandemic, Thorn released a collection of songs for his first album “Apollo.”

“I had never done anything on my own before, but I had a pile of songs that I’d written for the band that never materialized. That album is what I call a ‘collage album,’ where there’s different moods, genres and feelings throughout,” said Thorn. “That album got me into festivals like Mile of Music in Appleton, BadenFahrt in Baden, Switzerland (a major culture festival with over a million people in attendance), The Rusty Reel Lake Jam in Effingham Illinois, and grew my audience in places like Switzerland, New Zealand, Florida, Canada and California. Most of these places are my main touring circuit today.”

Thorn, who resides in East Nashville, recently started to get his songs recorded by other artists in the Nashville scene. Artists like Sheyna Gee (“Lonely”), Tera Lynne and Ashland Craft have been writing songs with him to use for their albums.

“Today, I’m recording my songs primarily with my producer, Clark Singleton (also the bass player in my band), at various studios. The bulk of my latest album 'Greenhouse' was recorded at Fatback Sound, in East Nashville. It’s an old Victorian house converted into a recording studio, owned by one of the band members of The Everly Brothers,” said Thorn. “I have residencies at Odie’s in Nashville (Old Dominion’s bar) and perform all over the country at different festivals, venues and private parties.”

Thorn said his music genre has always been triangulated between Americana/country, jazz and rock n’ roll.

“I live somewhere between those three points in all of my songs. What I’ve been saying lately is my genre is ‘I sound like Tom Petty if he played basketball.’ At this point in time, my song ‘Melody’ has gotten radio play and actually streams all over the globe in places all over the USA, Europe, Australia and New Zealand,” said Thorn.

Still more goals

Thorn believes he can climb even higher on the musical ladder.

“My first goal is to record and release 100 songs of my own (I’m coming up on 30 songs),” he said. “I want to merge my songs with film in the future, either by creating the films myself or by working with film makers to write music for their films. I recently launched my own independent record label to start contributing to other artists’ records. My brother Ross Thorn’s second album 'Fitting In' was the first venture where I helped with another artist’s album.

“I would love to expand that to more artists. I want to put a dent in the universe as an independent artist,” said Thorn. “I have a little boy now and I want to record my voice while I’m young and full of energy so he can hear his dad at every stage of his life. Our voices change so much throughout life — they’re like a finger print in time — and I want him to have access to my voice long after I’m gone.”

Thorn said he owes all of his musical foundation to his family and friends in the Northwoods.

“I was allowed to gig in bars when I had no business entertaining people yet. I was given a safe place to grow throughout the schools and venues of the Northwoods. My family taught me how to sing harmony, the schools taught me music theory and how to write and tell stories. I believe in our education system and the arts are the culmination of what we teach our children.”

If anyone wants to listen to Thorn’s music, they can visit his website at garrettthornmusic.com.