Legendary Songwriter Tom Douglas Brings Inspiration Through Moving Film ‘Love, Tom’

Songwriting legend Tom Douglas pulls back the veil and gives audiences a raw and vulnerable look into the life of a songwriter in the new film “Love, Tom” premiering on Paramount+ on February 24. Known for penning poignant and heartfelt songs, the Oscar and GRAMMY nominated songwriter has a long list of hits to his name including his breakthrough cut “Little Rock” (recorded by Collin Raye), “I Run To You” (recorded by Lady A), “The House That Built Me” (recorded by Miranda Lambert), and “My Little Girl” (recorded by Tim McGraw), amongst many more.

While from the outside people primarily see the mountaintop moments of his long and successful career, Douglas has experienced his share of struggles in songwriting, almost giving up on his career completely at times.

“Part of why I wanted to do this was to dispel some of the myths that are out there about the creative process,” says Douglas of the film.

What began as an eloquently moving 12-minute-long acceptance speech from his induction into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, Douglas was inspired to write a one-man play titled “Love, Tom” after seeing Bruce Springsteen on Broadway. Douglas wrote and performed the one-man play live before eventually being approached to share with the world by turning it into a film. In his new film “Love, Tom”, the highly acclaimed songsmith writes a letter back to a struggling up-and-coming songwriter who has written the legend for advice.

Through the letter, Douglas shares his life story and the many challenging years where he doubted his path of pursuing songwriting. Detailing the years where he moved to Texas and worked in real estate, almost calling it quits on his dream. He came to the realization that he was so focused on the songs he was writing that he was “worshipping the creation instead of [God] the Creator.” This led to a change in mindset, shifting his attention from what he was creating in order to focus on a higher power that was greater than himself and his songs. He was moved to write about his past, including brokenness, healing, and so many of the vulnerable emotions and experiences that his songs are known for. This eventually drove him back to Nashville at the age of 39 to give Music City and his songwriting aspirations one more try with this newfound perspective.

“Not all moments in your life are created equal and that was a real moment,” remembers Douglas. “I was at a crossroads. I was at a crisis and even though I said that I had made peace with songwriting and Nashville, at that point, that was probably eight years behind me…but the truth is, I had not. It still did haunt me. I had this great desire. I felt like I had a certain amount of talent to write, and I was a real estate broker, and I was married. I had children and I needed to be responsible. My father was falling apart at the time. I think at that time I finally came to the end of myself. I surrendered. I said, ‘I cannot do this anymore’…I think I finally surrendered, I gave up…I think we all have the ability to create idols in our life and as I say in the movie ‘Idols ultimately require everything from you.’ The creation that’s around us is beautiful, but it is not the Creator…God made all of this. Why would I look to me or Nashville or all the validation we need from other people? The sovereignty of God, that is the only comfort I have…”

The film is one of constant motion as it follows Douglas as he is driving his truck and walking through some of Nashville’s most iconic landmarks and hallowed songwriter locales, stopping along the way to play his hits at places like the Ryman Auditorium, the Bluebird Cafe, a street piano off Broadway, and many others.

“We wanted the world to see how beautiful and amazing our city is…” shares Douglas of Nashville. “A lot of it is haunts where songwriters hang out. We wanted to show some of those magic places.”

While playing his hits in the film, he shares the stories behind their creation. From sitting on a concrete floor with P!nk writing “Love Me Anyway” (feat. Chris Stapleton) and “Recovering”—which was later recorded by Céline Dion—to Miranda Lambert cutting “The House That Built Me” seven years after it was originally written.

As he offers advice to the disheartened songwriter, Douglas gives the audience a glimpse into his relationship with his father, who was biggest inspiration and a strong supporter of his songwriting career. From sending him as a child on a school trip to see The Beatles to buying him his first instruments, he tells of their relationship from his upbringing to when roles eventually became reversed, and he was in the position of taking care of his father later in life.  

Throughout the film is evident that family plays an important part in Douglas’ story as he tells stories about his parents and childhood, as well as his wife and kids throughout the film. Family however was also a driving force behind the scenes of making the film, as Douglas wrote the play and film with his son and his son-in-law worked as a producer on the project.

After years of having other artists release his songs, Douglas will be putting tracks from his own voice on the soundtrack with features from the many talented artists who have recorded his songs over the years.

In a preview screening event held in Nashville, Doulas participated in a Q&A style discussion with Country superstar Tim McGraw. The two friends have had immense impact on each other’s careers with Douglas penning many songs for McGraw with his first McGraw cut being “Grown Men Don’t Cry” in 2001. In addition to many songs created throughout their friendship, the pair has also written two children’s books together and Douglas even made a cameo as a priest in McGraw’s movie “Country Strong” with Gwyneth Paltrow.

The “Love, Tom” movie poster depicts Douglas driving in his truck with the tagline, “A love letter to a desperate world”. During the Q&A, McGraw described the film as “ a love letter to songwriters.”  Douglas expanded on this describing it as not only a love letter to songwriters but “…a love letter to Nashville, to the world, [and] to hope…”

And hope it truly provides. In a “ten-year town” like Nashville, where so many people move to chase big dreams but are often encountered with countless setbacks and frustrations, Douglas’ film provides inspiration to persevere even when times are hard. And while not everyone is a songwriter, the dynamics of relationships and hardships are universal, making this moving film one in which audiences will walk away with a renewed sense of purpose and vigor to fight through life’s challenges and hardships.

“…Everybody’s got a story,” says Douglas. “Story leads to memory, not nostalgia. Nostalgia is different than memory. Nostalgia is fuzzy and is often not true. Memory takes a lot of work. I’m just interested in things that help people remember who they are and where they’re from and to whom they belong…The culture that we find ourselves in creates amnesiacs. Memory helps us reconnect with who we are.”