Songwriter Tom Rouse

About Tom

Words. It's all about the words. For over 40 years, the words have been the primary motivation for Tom's songwriting. Starting out in high school writing poetry, then learning guitar while away at college using those poems to practice guitar by putting chords to them and the songwriting itch began.
His first collection of music was primarily 'gospel' or 'christian' as that was his focus during the 80's & early 90's. While he still writes from that perspective occasionally, in the late '90's, he decided to broaden his scope and write other genres.
Cutting his first demo in 2000, he went on to sing in local bands putting out his first solo effort in 2004, called, "I Don't Wanna Leave", co-executive produced with legendary singer/songwriter, Howard Lips, Jr., a former songwriter for the immortal Wagner/Parton partnership.
In 2008, Tom partnered with fellow songwriter, Darren Hurst to form the local South Alabama band, The DT's.

The DT's became one of the busiest bands in the Lower Alabama music scene. Much of the excitement garnered by Tom and Darren's original tunes. However, Darren suffered a life altering car wreck in the early 2010's and The DT's were never the same and disbanded soon thereafter.
Personal tragedies in the early 2020's almost derailed Tom's songwriting career but he's come back stronger than ever.
With a catalog of over 200 songs, he may not be considered 'prolific' but on his birthday in 2024, Tom decided it was time to focus once again on his songwriting habit. Since then he's written over 50 new tunes, most of which are now in DEMO form. You can find a variety here. Some are with Tom singing and others are demos of his work.

BMI Affiliate #893165.