This week’s Spotlight is on Thomas McMillan. Thomas was born and raised in Colleton County, the son of Chastity, and has three siblings: Hailey, Heather, and Tyler. Thomas, a junior at Colleton County High School, recently performed to a very appreciative audience at the Rice Festival Main Stage. We caught up with him after his performance to talk about his music.
McMillan’s interest in music started about ten years ago, around the age of eight. He said, “I just started beating on little tubs with sticks and singing the songs to the TV. My cousin Chris Roberts, who plays music locally, got me to start playing music and interested in a career in music.”
Thomas plays a little piano but performs with an acoustic guitar as his primary instrument. With a wide selection of cover songs in his set, he also has a great selection of original songs he has written. He takes his inspiration from Tyler Childers and likes artists such as Luke Bryan, Zac Brown, he listens to numerous titles. One of his favorite songs he has written is titled “Boots and Bonfires”. He explains how he wrote it, “I was sitting there, thinking about when I first got my truck, it was me and my buddy. I put it on 33-inch tires on the truck, rode around, and that's how I wrote that song. It was just me and him and that truck.”
Thomas, who performs under the name Thomas Allen Acoustics, enjoys performing around the area. In addition to the Colleton County Rice Festival, he has taken the stage recently at the Schutzenfest in Earhardt and has also performed at Broxton Bridge and numerous times at the Red Brick in Cottageville.
You can check out his music and find out where he will be performing on his Facebook or TikTok pages, thomasallenacoutics.
Thomas hopes to further his career by moving to Nashville to refine his music, make the contacts, and establish himself as a Nashville artist. The exposure to the Music City atmosphere is a great inspiration to the up-and-coming artist and a great opportunity to move forward with his singing and writing career.
When not onstage entertaining, Thomas likes the outdoors, riding four-wheelers and enjoying time with friends and family. Who knows, it might be the inspiration for a hit song.
