Tommy Howell, courtesy.

If the name Tommy Howell doesn’t ring a bell, maybe his other name, C. Thomas Howell, does.

As an actor, Howell has been working since his feature film debut in the classic “E.T. the Extra Terrestrial” in 1982. He followed it with his iconic role as Ponyboy in Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Outsiders,” alongside Matt Dillon, Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe, Tom Cruise, Patrick Swayze and the Karate Kid himself, Ralph Macchio.

These days, he’s still acting; we spoke to him while he was in Las Vegas shooting upcoming show “Obliterated,” for Netflix. But he’s also writing and playing music. And he gets it if you don’t immediately take that seriously.

“I’ve gotta deal with being an actor saying, ‘Hey, listen to my music,'” he said. “People are gonna be like, ‘Well OK, this’ll be cute.’ But I feel like it’s a hard life. It’s a lot of hard work. And I’m willing to do that work. I love to get better. I feel there’s a place for me.”

His journey into music started, like so many new things, during the pandemic. Los Angeles shut down only a few days before he was set to be in a two-man play, so he found himself with a lot of time and an unfulfilled creative drive. So he turned to a long-simmering idea.

“I’ve had this idea to do a film about what I would call the J.D. Salinger of country music: a guy who just pumped out one awesome piece, it went through the roof, then he walked away from the business and never did anything ever again because he just wanted to be a cowboy,” he said. “I could do all of the horse part of it, but the guitar playing was something I needed to begin. Then two things happened: One, COVID never went away, so I didn’t put this guitar down for a year, and two, I found out I could write a song.”

While acting and music are both performing, and Howell’s 40 years of experience with the former does inform the latter, there are key, refreshing differences.

“What I’m experiencing now for the first time is the opportunity to not hide behind a role or a camera lens. I go out there with my guitar and my heart. I surprised myself because I didn’t know if I could do it or not,” he said. “Right now, the way I design my show, the front half is plugged in and standing up and kinda loud; the second half is unplugged, sitting down, telling stories and inviting people to ask questions. I’m more of a character when I’m standing up, and I’m more myself when I’m sitting and inviting you into my living room.”

Once he learned to play and write songs, and found that he could perform them, it was time to settle on a sound. Howell began in country because of the origin of the idea: mandolin-driven acoustic mountain music, as he called it. Once he got a band and started playing, it evolved pretty quickly. He decided he wanted music with some teeth, so he plugged in and went electric, and where he ended up was somewhere close to his heart.

Tommy Howell, courtesy.

“I love listening to Southern rock. I love Lynyrd Skynyrd, Marshall Tucker, the Allman Brothers,” he said. “I also like that Texas thunder sound, that Stevie Ray Vaughan. I miss that in music today. Southern rock is still loved and adored but it’s missing. And that’s the stuff that I like listening to.”

You may be asking what an actor from L.A. knows about country music. Tommy Howell, as it turns out, is more qualified to be a cowboy than you’d think.

“If I was trying to be a rapper or to do contemporary music, I’d get it if people were like, ‘Hit the road,'” he said. “But I come from a rural background. My daddy rode bulls for 10 years professionally, and all my family are cowboys. In 1979, 1980, 1981, I was California state junior all-around champion cowboy. I was gonna be a professional cowboy; I wanted to do that. And then the acting thing took over. My father was a stuntman, so I got in that business instead.”

As it stands, Howell is happy to both continue his acting career and pursue music. He has a passion for both, and he works hard at both. Most of all, they each fulfill a different aspect of his creative drive.

“To me, music has become a beautiful platform to reach out and connect with so many people and just have a damn good time. You know, I’ve spent a lifetime in entertainment, but it’s been all work for me. When you’re working on a film, there’s no immediate response, no ‘Meet me after the show, and I’ll sign an autograph and take a picture and talk about it.’ No ‘thank you for the applause; my heart’s racing and I’m feeling the love.’ Music’s been fun. It’s been a lot of fun. I feel like I’ve already won; I’m so grateful.”

Follow publisher Daniel J. Willis at Twitter.com/BayAreaData.