This musician, raised in West Texas, was also a long way from home when he created these works. Romantic Stories is a strong rock album that ranges from the lyrically mystical "In the Monk's Garden," to the more straightforward rock & roll of "Wünderweg." And it's not all rock grooves either, as "Maxhütte Trail" bounces to a reggae beat.

Some have compared Thompson's music to jam bands, like Widespread Panic, and latter-day garage acts, such as Neil Young & Crazy Horse, but Thompson has a crystal-clear singing voice and his song arrangements are fairly succinct, and not the sort of extended tracks you might expect from a jam-leaning act.

Thompson is just too good a songwriter to ever let his songs get too instrumentally out of control. These are, after all, romantic stories, not epic tales.