Thomas Alan Waits is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor.Waits has a distinctive voice, described by the MusicHound Rock Album Guide as sounding 'like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months and then taken outside and run over with a car.' With this trademark growl, as well as his experimental tendencies and a love of pre-rock Americana styles such as blues, jazz, and Vaudeville, Waits has built up a distinctive musical persona.