“I was writing songs from eight years old, but once Igot a guitar I began to deeply identify with music… building an arsenal of influences”: How Lea Thomas uses guitars her dad built to conjure a magic synthesis of folk, pop and the ethereal

A black-and-white photo of Lea Thomas with her T-style electric guitar.

Hawaiian-born and based in New York state’s Hudson Valley, guitarist and singer-songwriter Lea Thomas makes beautiful, spacious music that combines pop-oriented sounds with something more ethereal and less focused on traditional structures.

The music is quietly complex, with precise production, but Lea is also an adept live performer, something seemingly innate.