For Mike Thomas, some stories are too important to leave unfinished.
After “Hell in High Water” struck a chord with listeners, the Tennessee-raised singer-songwriter felt there was more to say. What followed was Echoes, a cinematic concept album tracing one man’s journey through grief, addiction and the long road toward faith, healing and redemption. Rather than rush to capitalize on the song’s viral moment, Thomas took a step back, letting the story find its way to him. Then, as he puts it, “I wrote ‘Undertow,’ ‘Tailwaters’ and ‘Echoes’ in the same week.”
Rooted in the mountains and rivers of Appalachia, Echoes is a deeply personal chapter for an artist who spent more than a decade away from music raising a family and building a business. That time away gave him a clearer sense of the stories he wanted to tell — and the responsibility he feels in telling them honestly. “Rock bottom is a real place. So is the way out,” he shares, capturing the heart of a record that finds hope even in its darkest moments.
In honor of the album’s September 25 release, Thomas sat down with Celeb Secrets Country to unpack the inspiration behind Echoes, the emotional turning point that became “Cold River Runnin’,” and why the Appalachian landscape holds so much more than memories. Plus, he reveals the moving, previously untold story behind the album’s cover art — and the unexpected connection that made this project mean even more.
Keep scrolling to read our full Q&A with Mike below, and don’t forget to let us know if you’re loving Echoes by either leaving a reaction at the bottom of the post or by sliding into our DMs on Instagram at @celebsecretscountry.
Celeb Secrets Country: You’ve described Echoes as a cinematic story that takes listeners through grief, addiction, faith and ultimately redemption. When did you realize these songs were becoming one bigger story, rather than simply a collection of songs?
Mike Thomas: “Almost immediately after I finished recording ‘Hell in High Water,’ I felt there was more to the story. I did not start pursuing it until several months later. That song deserved its moment without me pushing things along too quickly, and it had a bit of a viral run — I did not want to come off like I was chasing that same virality. So, I sat with it for a while. Then I wrote ‘Undertow,’ ‘Tailwaters’ and ‘Echoes’ in the same week. It was finishing ‘Tailwaters’ that showed me where the rest of it was headed.”
CSC: There’s such a strong sense of place throughout Echoes, especially in the way Appalachia almost feels like a character in the story. What is it about the mountains, rivers and communities you grew up around that continue to find its way into your songwriting?
MT: ” The people and places that shaped me shaped these songs too. Some of my earliest memories are outdoors, in the hills, rivers and streams of East Tennessee. My family spent a lot of time in those mountains when I was young, and I learned early on that they were more than scenery. Those ancient mountains provide a deep spiritual connection to the past and a gateway to the Creator.”
CSC: “Hell in High Water” opened the door to this story, but Echoes takes that emotional world somewhere much deeper. After writing that song and seeing how people connected with it, what made you realize there was still a bigger story you needed to tell?
MT: “I’ve never had a song take off the way ‘Hell in High Water’ did. People were reaching out daily to tell me what it meant to them. It was the right song at the right moment, and I felt fortunate that I got to be the one to deliver it. I think it said something a lot of people could not say for themselves. That carried enormous weight and responsibility. I felt called to finish what ‘Hell in High Water’ started.”
CSC: “Cold River Runnin’” is described as a major breaking point for the album’s central character. What did you want that song to say about the things we try to escape versus the things that ultimately pull us back?
MT: “‘Undertow’ is rock bottom for our character, and ‘Cold River Runnin” is his turning point. It’s where he realizes that no matter how far he runs or how much he self-medicates, he cannot outrun the pain. He must face it. He’s never known hurt like this, and he pleads with God for mercy. The story turns toward healing and redemption from here.”
CSC: You co-wrote “Cold River Runnin’” with Tres Sasser, marking your first co-write together despite years of working alongside each other. What changed when you moved from being collaborators in the studio and onstage to actually sitting down together to write the story?
MT: “During the studio sessions for Echoes, I told Tres I needed one more song. It had to be the turning point in the story. It had to have an edge to it. Like it was teetering, about to lose control. Tres and I have worked together long enough that he has a good sense of what I am after, and he knows how to pull something out of me when I am struggling to get to it. He brought the title and some ideas for this one and we went to work. It will not be the last one we will write together.”
CSC: There’s a really interesting tension in Echoes between darkness and hope. How did you approach writing about addiction, loss and hopelessness without allowing the album to become defined by the darkness?
MT: “The older I get, the more aware I am of the spiritual battles going on around us every day. Light and dark, good and evil. We all have our struggles, and we all have something we put our hope in. This record goes to some dark places, but that is not where it ends up. Rock bottom is a real place. So is the way out.”
CSC: You stepped away from music for more than a decade to raise a family and build a business before finding your way back to songwriting. Now that you’re releasing a project this personal, do you think the time away changed the kind of artist and storyteller you were meant to become?
MT: “The time away was a big part of finding my voice as a writer. At this point in my life, I feel convicted about why I write, and I have a clearer sense of the stories I want to tell. I try not to concern myself with what is cool or trendy or what is selling. Sure, I hope people will listen, buy my records and connect with my music, but I need to write about real life and tell it honestly.”
CSC: What does the word “echoes” mean to you personally, and why did it become the right title for this chapter?
MT: “To me, Appalachian music is how those who walked these hills before us are still heard. What they learned the hard way gets passed down in the songs, and the stories come with them. These mountains and rivers are more than scenery. They are what holds the people and the place together, and they have done it for generations. Step foot in those hills and you can still hear them. These are the echoes.”
CSC: What’s one thing you want people to understand about you both as an artist and as a person when listening to this album?
MT: “I hope people hear that these are real stories inspired by real people. I believe music is meant to connect, to heal, and to shine a light in the darkness. I am grateful that I get to make music the way I believe it should be made, with a group of people who care about these songs as much as I do. And I am just as grateful that there are people who want to hear them.”
CSC: Since we’re Celeb Secrets Country, do you have any fun behind-the-scenes secrets from making Echoes that we wouldn’t know just by listening to it?
MT: “One thing I have not shared is how the cover art came about. I knew I did not want my picture on this album. I wanted a piece of artwork that captured what Echoes is. I asked around and was eventually introduced to an artist named Alexis Moulds.
Alexis and I talked back in the spring about the record and what I was after, and I sent her the album so she could listen. I learned later that the same day she agreed to take on my project, she had received a cancer diagnosis.
Alexis insisted on moving forward. She was walking through a dark stretch of her own and she created that cover anyway. Alexis has fully recovered now. Knowing what she was carrying while she worked on it makes this record mean even more to me.”
LISTEN TO “ECHOES” BELOW:
For more Country news, visit CelebSecretsCountry.com.
