by Mark Deming While being called Norway's leading alt-country act probably sounds like a dubious distinction at best, St. Thomas has not only won a sizable following in his native land (where his scruffy but impassioned tales of love and heartbreak have landed in the Top Ten of the pop charts), but turned the heads of critics in Europe, the United Kingdom, and America, where he's been hailed as a new and distinctive voice exploring the possibilities of roots music. St. Thomas was born Thomas Hansen in Oslo, Norway, in 1976. Thomas was in his early 20s when he developed an interest in music and began immersing himself in the work of Elliott Smith and Will Oldham. Eager to make music of his own, he bought a guitar and a four-track cassette deck and started writing songs. In 1998, Thomas moved to Bergen, Norway, to attend school, and while a student formed his first band, Emily Lang. Emily Lang recorded a demo tape which earned them some good p...