He was a Ponyboy; she was a Ponygirl. Can I make it any more obvious? Well, to be fair, I could probably elaborate. You know Tommy “C. Thomas” Howell, the guy who played Ponyboy in The Outsiders? He’s released a single “Ponygirl” last week. Sadly, Howell says, “There’s no relation to Ponyboy, apart from the fact that Ponyboy wrote it. It’s a lullaby that’s about a young cowboy looking for his love.”
And though you might also recognize Howell from his roles in E.T., Red Dawn, and even Criminal Minds, channelling the story of a cowboy within his music hasn’t been much of a stretch for the actor. “I grew up in a rural community,” he says. “My father was a professional cowboy and I rodeoed my whole life.” Music, however, is a relatively new creative outlet for the artist.
“I picked up a guitar for the very first time [when Covid hit in 2020] with the thought of wanting to write and star in a movie about a cowboy who had success with one album and walked away from the business,” Howell says. “So I started to pluck at the guitar hoping to fake my way through a movie production and I absolutely fell in love with it. I started playing and writing songs, and one thing led to another and all this just turned into a big old mess on accident.”
With three singles under his belt and an album set to release in 2023, Howell is ready to get back on the stage. “I went through kind of a quickening, I’d say, a little speed course over the past year and a half. I feel like I’ve been doing it for 10 years. It’s exciting to reinvent yourself and be open to something new.”
This Thursday, Howell will bring his Cowboy Christmas Show to Memphis, where he will perform his original country music and classic Christmas songs. Plus, he’ll share a tale or two about his life and career in Hollywood. Admission to the show is free, but a toy donation for the Salvation Army is strongly encouraged. “We’re just trying to put smiles on faces and hearts, including our own,” he says.
Cowboy Christmas Show, Lafayette’s Music Room, Thursday, December 15, 7 p.m., free with a toy donation.