Tomlin was born in Grand Saline, Texas in 1972 to Connie and Donna Tomlin. He has two younger brothers, Ryan and Cory. Tomlin received his first guitar from his father, Connie, at the age of eleven after contracting a case of mono. Then, Tomlin wrote his first worship song at age fourteen. He entered college planning to study physical therapy, but he stated that he felt God's calling to something else and did not pursue that career.
In the mid-1990s Tomlin spent time leading worship at the Dawson McAllister Youth Conferences, as well as at various camps around the state of Texas.
Following college, at Texas A&M University Tomlin continued to play and write songs, and in 1997, Louie Giglio asked if he would be interested in working with the Passion Conferences. Tomlin agreed, and he has played a key role ever since. His first nationally released solo project, titled The Noise We Make, was released in 2001, which saw the emergence of songs "Forever," "Be Glorified", and "Kindness", all of which made the top 200 in the CCLI 2005 top 500 worship songs. Since then, he has released many more studio albums, most notably Arriving, which is considered his breakout album, since it produced four number one hits ("Indescribable" (written by Laura Story), "Holy Is the Lord," "How Great Is Our God," and "The Way I Was Made"), and two other songs ("On Our Side" and "Mighty is the Power of the Cross", written with Shawn Craig of Phillips, Craig, and Dean) which landed in the 2005 top five hundred worship songs according to Christian Copyright Licensing International.
Just one year after Arriving, Tomlin released his first solo live album, titled Live From Austin Music Hall, and in 2006, he released his fourth studio album, See the Morning. This album has enjoyed great success, for it has been nominated for two Grammy Awards, been certified Gold by the RIAA and has helped him win 6 Dove Awards in 2007, including a second consecutive "Artist of the Year" win. The three singles off this album have all been top #5 songs on the Billboard Hot Christian Songs Chart, and have all reached the number one position on the Radio & Records’s Christian AC Chart.
Although a solo artist, Tomlin travels around with a consistent band lineup. His band, in which he performs vocals, acoustic guitar, and piano, consists of Daniel Carson (electric guitar, backup vocals), Jesse Reeves (bass guitar, harmonica, backup vocals, co-songwriter), and Travis Nunn (drums, loops). The latter replaced Joey Parish as drummer in 2004. Although not considered an "official" band member, Matt Gilder regularly plays the keys for Tomlin. Tomlin and the band developed while working with the Harvest Ministry at The Woodlands United Methodist Church in The Woodlands, Texas in the late 1990s.
According to Christian Copyright Licensing International’s list of the top 25 worship songs in the United States as of August 2007, Tomlin held 5 spots with songs he has either written or co-written with other songwriters: "How Great Is Our God" (#1), "Forever" (#5), "Holy Is the Lord" (#7), "We Fall Down" (#12),and "Indescribable" (#22). On 20 the countdown magazine in 2008 on the top 20 praise and worship songs so far, he held 6 spots: "We Fall Down" (#14), "Forever" (#10), "Holy is the Lord" (#8), "Indescribable" (#6), "Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)" (#3), and "How Great is our God" (#1).
