Keep on Swingin'

The musician that Jimmy Fallon discovered on the day he planned to quit the business.

Part 1 of Thad Cockrell’s story is here.

TL;DR The day Thad was going to throw in the towel on his music career, Jimmy Fallon heard his song playing in a hardware store. Fallon liked the song, Shazam’d it to find out who was performing, and invited Thad to make his Late Night debut earlier this week.

The song Go Down Swingin’ is great, but the album was released last year and neither you or I heard it. Without context, it’s not easy for a song to spread easily.

But Thad’s story is going viral. People want to spread the story.

It’s the story of a guy who got discovered on the day he was going to walk away from music (surely someone’s optioned the film rights already).

It’s the story of an underdog who has been paying his due for years finally catching a lucky break.

It’s the story of something good happening to a good guy who has earned it.

• Rolling Stone magazine wrote about it.

• His album “If In Case You Feel The Same” has moved into the iTunes Top 40.

• He was invited to follow up his late night appearance with an appearance on The Today Show Jan 28.

This story put Thad’s song in the ears of thousands of people who wouldn’t have heard it otherwise.

Sometimes it’s not enough to let the music speak for itself. It’s useful to wrap your art in a story that engages people’s imaginations and is easy to share.

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Update:

After appearing on The Tonight Show and The Today Show, Thad Cockrell’s song Swingin’ charted at number one on the iTunes chart.