Article Contributed by IVPR
Published on 2026-02-23
“Most of this album, one way or another, is a reflection of my recovery and overcoming addiction,” says accomplished guitarist, songwriter, and newly-turned solo artist Andy Thomas of his upcoming LP, Highway Junkie. “Leaving behind all the negativity and running towards love, light, and opportunity.” The beating heart of that story, though, is the album-closing “Last One Standing,” a track that straddles the feeling of a funeral dirge and a cosmic prayer. “This one though,” he says of the track, “I really was the last one standing, and if I didn’t make a change I was going to die or end up in jail.” It doesn’t get more point blank black and white than that, and the resulting recording reflects Thomas’s hard truth sentiment beautifully.
“A lot of feeling went into this track and we really stripped it down to the basics after we played all the instruments on it,” Thomas says. He, along with producer Dave Schools (Widespread Panic), retained the raw, rock and roll energy found on the entirety of Highway Junkie, but “Last One Standing” feels more intimate, more immediate. “I can’t go back there, heading for a new life now,” sings Thomas amidst a host of vocal booth confessions, seemingly saying them aloud to let the universe carry them away. “This one’s about taking the leap and getting sober and not knowing where you’re going to land but trusting yourself and the universe that you’ll get there,” he says, turning his own phrase into the song’s enraptured refrain: “I don’t know where it is, I just know that I’ll get there.”
“Last One Standing” is the latest single from Thomas’s debut solo LP, Highway Junkie, a twelve-song collection that connects the dots of a troubled past and the hard-fought strength of self in the present, all while floating somewhere between modern day southern rockers, alt-country thinkers, and barefoot, Buffet-esque singalongs. And the thread that connects it all is Thomas’s run-through-a-wall energy he emits through an electric guitar, captured effortlessly by Highway Junkie’s producer, Thomas’s longtime friend, and fellow Richmond native, Widespread Panic’s Dave Schools. Americana Highways wrote, “Between Andy’s songwriting and delivery and Dave School’s heavy emotional production sensibilities, the song is anthemic, motivating and powerful.”
Fans can stream or purchase “Last One Standing” today at this link, check out Thomas’s previously released singles, “Highway Junkie,” “Dirty Work,” and “Long Gone,” at their respective links, and pre-order or pre-save Highway Junkie ahead of its March 27th release right here. Thomas hits the road again in March supporting Blackberry Smoke in New Jersey, New York, and Delaware before heading home for a special album release show at Richmond’s The Broadberry on April 3rd. A full list of tour dates can be found below or at andythomasmusic.com/tour.
Highway Junkie Tracklist:
Highway Junkie
Hard To Tell
Nothing I Wouldn’t Do (For You)
Freedom Song
Dirty Work
Little Love Machine
Down The Line
Kings & Queens
Twin Flames
Runaway
Long Gone
Last One Standing
Andy Thomas On The Road:
March 5 – New Brunswick, NJ – State Theatre New Jersey*
March 6 – Patchogue, NY – Patchogue Theatre for the Performing Arts*
March 7 – Tarrytown, NY – Tarrytown Music Hall*
March 8 – Wilmington, DE – Grand Opera House*
April 3 – Richmond, VA – The Broadberry – Highway Junkie Album Release Show
* supporting Blackberry Smoke
For tickets, please visit andythomasmusic.com/tour.
