 He grew up in a family of folklorists and music researchers, so Lomax spent a lot of time listening to music and exploring the Houston music scene when he was younger.He knew Lightnin’ Hopkins, Mance Lipscomb, and many others through his father, John A. Lomax, Jr. Alan Lomax, John's uncle, was a documentarian of folk music who's recording work exists in the Library of Congress.Alan rceived the National Medal of Arts in 1986 and a National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences in 2003

After a brief stint in New York and a return to Houston, Lomax moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 1973.