Welcome everyone, and thank you for joining me today on another musical journey. I went out to Lafitte, Louisiana for this episode and sat down with guitarist and vocalist Theophile Bourgeois who founded and currently plays in Them Ol Ghosts. They’re a four piece, melodic, southern rock band with a catalog to which you can slow dance as well as rock out.
Theophile began early in music, starting out on drums around 8 yrs old, but quickly moved onto guitar two years later. And it’s where he’s stayed ever since. Heavy metal consumed him early on, and it became the voice of an angst-filled teen throughout high school. We talk the facets and factors of his transition from there which included trading screaming for harmony and airing out frustrations for depth of meaning in lyricism. He pays much respect to his hometown, citing the mysterious charm of the swamp and historical prominence as the old stomping grounds for infamous pirate Jean Laffite.
We also discuss the inspiration he drew from artists like Dax Riggs, whose ability to bring haunting, melodic imagery to Acid Bath’s thrash metal struck Theophile as admirable and dynamic.
I found Theophile to be enthusiastic and forthcoming about his personal life. And I believe it’s what made this episode such a great one. We were able to parse through the impact becoming a father, family death, and a pandemic had on his music career; which, incidentally, almost ceased due to these factors. But hearing him describe how he waded back into those waters once again will definitely help some of our musician listeners out there that currently find themselves at a crossroads.
But hey I don’t want to give everything away. So, stick around because there’s something for everyone in this episode. I’ve got Them Ol Ghosts site link in the show notes if you want to learn more, as well as ways to support this show.
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Ok! Well that’s it for all the hubbub. Let’s get right into it. Here’s Theophile Bourgois of Them Ol Ghosts. Enjoy!
https://www.themolghosts.com/
