Eric Brace and Thomm Jutz are a formidable duo, two singer-songwriters from Nashville whose second album, Circle and Square, arrived in January, 2026. It’s a gorgeous rumination on creativity, art, beauty, love, and friendship in an age of destruction and hatred. Their last album, Simple Motion, hit #1 on the Folk DJ chart (FAI) in March, 2024.

Eric moved to Nashville twenty years ago from Washington D.C., where he was leading his acclaimed roots-rock band Last Train Home, named D.C.’s “Artist of the Year” in 2003 by the Washington Area Music Association.

Thomm moved to Music City from his birthplace of Germany in 2002, and immediately became an indispensable sideman to the likes of Nanci Griffith, Mary Gauthier, David Olney, Kim Richey, and others, while also building a studio and a reputation as a producer and songwriter.

Eric, after a leaving his career as a music writer for The Washington Post, moved to Nashville in 2004, and soon had a duo with his East Nashville neighbor, journalist and songwriter Peter Cooper. Over more than a decade they released six albums, and earned a Grammy nomination for Best Children’s Record after making I Love: Tom T. Hall’s Songs of Fox Hollow.

After recording two albums at Thomm’s studio, Eric and Peter invited Thomm to join them, and the Brace/Cooper/ Jutz trio was born. Two powerful albums ensued: Profiles in Courage, Frailty & Discomfort, and Riverland.

On those albums, songs by Brace and Cooper are side by side with those of Thomm, who won “Songwriter of the Year” at the 2021 IBMA bluegrass awards. His songs have been recorded by dozens of artists (Billy Strings, Tim O’Brien, the SteelDrivers, and many more), and he teaches songwriting at Belmont University. Thomm’s solo album To Live in Two Worlds was nominated for a bluegrass Grammy award in 2020, and he was featured in an “American Currents” exhibit in the Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum.

The tragic death of Peter Cooper in December, 2022, led Eric and Thomm to reassess their musical path, but one thing emerged with clarity: They would continue to make music together.

Their fluid acoustic guitar interplay and warm vocal harmonies will continue to be heard, all in service to the songs. Songs from the heart, songs about insomniacs, mill workers, train whistles, astronauts, lovers, painters, writers, sailors and soldiers, songs about everyday struggles, heartbreak, and triumph.

In a time of division, Eric and Thomm seek — and find — connection.