Thomas Geelens feels passionate about playing guitar and singing acoustic pop, rock and soul. He wants to portray life through his lyrics and music in a truthful way with a sense of hope. This refreshing positive view of music is welcome in our modern day. Interestingly, Thomas is from Maastricht, Netherlands but told us he plans to play his music and promote himself in the U.S.

His hometown, Maastricht, is a university town with a multicultural feel. The town is culturally and architecturally diverse from the beautiful old fortress to modern museums. Because it is close to both Belgium and Germany and has several universities and colleges, Maastricht has a large international and university age population. It also has a good, dynamic arts scene of music, performing arts, and visual arts to get involved with.

But it was Thomas’ 10 day visit to New York, USA, that inspired him to begin writing lyrics and singing more seriously. Since then he has been working to write and perform his own music. His inspiration in the music world is American singer-songwriter John Mayer because of his sound and authentic approach to music. He also likes Axl Rose of Guns N’Roses, Mark Knopfler, The Script, Don Henley of the Eagles, George Michael, and Colton Avery. Thomas is drawn to strong male vocals and soulful lyrics.

Thomas is not just a dreamer, but someone who is taking steps towards finding success. He works hard to make sure his music has the sound and feel he wants it to have. In fact, his inspiration for his lyrics comes from his own life experiences. He is also getting to know the ins and outs of the music world including finding EDM producers, setting up music venues, and getting helpful feedback on his sound. Someone who puts passion and hard work into music often has more staying power.

To date, Thomas told us he has released two tracks and is hard at work on his first EP, “Stories From the Valley. Vol 1” that he hopes to have out in June. As for performing, he is planning to travel this summer for the USA 2018 Open Mic Summer Tour. You can find more information on his website.

Thomas is on HearMeOut and likes the idea of the app because “Our voice is something even more personal than instant messaging which means you’re on a different plane of communication.” He observes that the platform creates respect between creators and users because it’s somewhere for artists and creators to share. Check out Thomas Geelens on HearMeOut.

Thomas Geelens: Hope from Maastricht