DUFF THOMPSON
BIO

Photo by Steph Green
Duff Thompson is a songwriter, musician, and producer whose music is a swampy blend of folk, pop, and garage rock. As a songwriter, he has a rare ability to distill emotional complexity into simple, sincere songs that instantly hit the listener on a visceral level. As a producer, he draws from influences that span across decades and genres, merging them into a cohesive and organic sound recognizable as his own.
On his debut album Haywire, strings, clarinet, and steel guitar accompany a Slim Whitman-esque lullaby, followed by muddy, howling, live-to-tape garage rock. Meanwhile, extravagant pop ballads are contrasted by stripped-down guitar-and-story folk. Each track is its own living world, tied together by a distinctive overall aesthetic and Thompson's sincere, expressive and singular voice. Released December 11, 2020 on Mashed Potato Records, Haywire immediately drew praise as a timeless and affecting album from, amongst others, NPR, American Songwriter, and Atwood Magazine.
Thompson started out playing music at a young age, forming
and playing in bands until 2016, when he shifted focus to being
a solo artist. It was around this time he found himself in New Orleans where he would spend the next few years recording both himself and those around him in the folk/songwriter community he found himself in. It was also around this time that he co-founded Mashed Potato Records, which he continues to co-run with Steph Green in Canada.