Under Indiana Lights showcases Tom’s reflective and poignant songwriting skills along with his family’s talents.   For the recording, Tom serves as the main vocalist with the kids singing both lead and background vocals. The CD also features special guest musicians including legendary guitarist Phil Keaggy, Ben Shive (Andrew Peterson), and Ken Lewis (Steven Curtis Chapman, Emmylou Harris).  On tour, it all becomes a family affair with daughter Kaylyn, 17, sings background and lead vocals and plays bass & rhythm guitar; Maggie, 15, sings background and lead vocals and plays keys and recorder; son Jonathon, 13,plays percussion, drums, and penny whistle along with singing background vocals; and wife Lisa joins in with percussion.  Tom co-wrote the tunes for Under Indiana Lights with Andy Osenga, formerly with Caedmon’s Call, and Jeremy Casella, both of whom are members of Square Peg Alliance. They challenged Tom to get very personal in the lyrical content, and what resulted became powerful moments of unyielding honesty. “Where is God,” the CD’s first single, is such a tune.

“Hope in spite of circumstance is a message I share often during concerts,” says Tom.  “There are times when the tidal waves of circumstance can assault us to the point of wondering how much more we can take, shaking our faith to its very core.  In January of 2010, as we were writing these songs, we witnessed the devastation of Haiti on television and it broke our hearts.  During one of our sessions Jeremy said to me, ‘I want to write a song for Haiti.’ I already had the idea for ‘Where is God’ and it seemed like the perfect theme for the song.As we continued to develop the song through the summer, it became evident that this song was no longer just about Haiti, but about many aspects of human suffering.  The challenge for me was to write a song that honestly addressed the heartache of tragedy, and yet reflected the hope of Christ, all the while avoiding the clichés that can often seem so flippant.  As I worked through how best to communicate this I was reminded of Jesus’ words: ‘Whatsoever you do for the least of these, you’ve done unto me.’ I realized that as we serve others we become representatives of God’s grace to them.  It made me understand even more the depth of Jesus’ promise that wherever two or more are gathered in His name, He would be with them. And not only is Jesus there with us, but because of His amazing willingness to lay down His life for us, He fully identifies with our suffering, all the while assuring us that our hope is not in vain."