Tom McRae
, the singer-songwriter, was born on 19th March 1969 as Jeremy Thomas McRae Blackall
in Chelmsford, England.
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TOM MCRAE TICKETS
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Career
The son of two Church of England vicars,
[1] McRae sang in the church choir and as a
teen experimented with his mother's guitar.
[2] Initially trying to emulate his heroes,
Billy Bragg,
Bob Dylan,
Paul Simon,
Neil Young,
Kate Bush,
U2, he began to write his own songs and develop his own style. Age 18, he went to
City of London polytechnic
achieving a degree in politics and government,
[3]
and forming his first band, "The Ministers of Orgasm". Subsequently, McRae was involved in bands "Raising Cain" and "Orchid Lounge".
[4]A chance meeting with recording engineer & record producer
Roger Bechirian, (
Elvis Costello,
Squeeze,
Carlene Carter,
The Undertones), led to a working relationship. Bechirian helped to shape McRae's soft-spoken sound, which later gained McRae a deal with Dave Bates's db Records, (db/BMG records). In 2000, director Scott Walker chose McRae to perform at the highly acclaimed
Meltdown (festival) in the
Royal Festival Hall.
[5] McRae's confessional, self-titled debut appeared in autumn 2001, during the height of the new acoustic movement and earned him comparisons to
Nick Drake and
Bob Dylan. Critics raved and McRae gained nominations for the
Mercury Prize, a
Q Magazine award and the
BRIT Award for Best Newcomer. By then, McRae was working with Oliver ("Oli") Kraus, cellist, and in 2003 was joined by Olli Cunningham on keyboards. McRae's second album,
Just Like Blood
, was released in the U.K. in February 2003 produced by
Ben Hillier, whose credits include
Elbow,
Martha Wainwright and
Blur. McRae then moved to
California, where he wrote and recorded his next album,
All Maps Welcome,
which was released in May 2005.
In 2005, McRae supported
Tori Amos on the UK leg of her
Original Sinsuality
tour. Having played many times in the
Hotel Café in Los Angeles and having been one of the artists on the first U.S
Hotel Cafe Tour, McRae brought the Tour to the UK in 2006, introducing his fans to many other singer-songwriters which most notably include Steve Reynolds,
Joe Purdy,
Cary Brothers, and Jim Bianco. The
Hotel Cafe Tour saw the artists participating in each others' songs. The tour also featured a variety of special guests, including
Kathryn Williams,
Justin Currie,
Colin MacIntyre and
Aqualung.
McRae's fourth album,
King of Cards
, was recorded in
Suffolk and released in May 2007.
In spring 2008, McRae once again brought the
Hotel Cafe Tour to the UK, and for the first time, also took it to continental Europe. This time he was accompanied by
Cary Brothers, Brian Wright,
Catherine Feeny,
Greg Laswell, Jim Bianco and Jason (or Dr.) Kanakis. Again, there were special guests at each location, including
Eddi Reader and
Turin Brakes.
Tom was a guest vocalist for band "Wills and the Willing" at a number of festivals in the UK in summer 2008 and had a headline slot at the Offset festival in August.
[6] In autumn 2008 he toured the North Eastern states of America and Canada.
Part one of McRae's fifth studio album,
Alphabet of Hurricanes
, is scheduled for release this autumn. Produced in his own studio,
Gunpoint
, in East London, the album has been recorded over three years in varied settings. The "Alphabet of Hurricanes" Tour takes off in UK and Europe this September
[7]
Discography
Albums
- Tom McRae
October 2, 2000 (Arista)
- Just Like Blood
U.K.: February 18, 2003 U.S.: September 21, 2004 (Nettwerk)
- All Maps Welcome
U.K.: May 2, 2005 U.S.: May 31, 2005 (RCA)
- King of Cards
May 14, 2007 (V2)
Live EPs and Albums
- The strongroom Sessions
2007 (V2)
- Tom McRae Live 2007
Other projects
McRae contributed music to the soundtracks of the movies
Uno
(2004) and
Unsuitable
(2005). And his music has featured in the film "The Bubble" by Gal Uchovsky.
He also contributed a strikingly melancholic cover version of "Wonderful Christmastime" to a Christmas compilation CD: "Maybe This Christmas Tree" produced in 2004.
In August 2005, McRae visited the country of
Niger in
Africa at the request of
The Observer
and wrote an article about the famine titled,
"Lipstick", a single by "Wills and the Willing" is due to be released on July 7 2008. McRae provides the vocals for parts of the song which he wrote after hearing the original material, which had been written in response to the London bombings.
[8]
McRae was once cast in an independent film as Gram Parson's ghost. Funding for the film fell through and all that remains is his screen test.
[9]
His song "São Paulo Rain" was featured in a 6th season episode of
Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The episode is entitled "Entropy."
His song "Set The Story Straight" was featured in a 2nd season episode of
Kyle XY.
His song "Still Lost" was featured in the 3rd season episode "Electric Kiss" of the Tv show
Kyle XY.
His song "I Ain't Scared of Lightning" was featured in the second season of British drama
Skins.
His songs "Karaoke Soul" and "Stronger Than Dirt" appear in the American television series
Rescue Me
and "Karaoke Soul" is featured in its
soundtrack.
His songs "2nd Law" and "You Cut Her Hair" were part of the sountrack for the film Jekyll + Hyde.
References
- interview with Incendiary Magazine
- video of Tom McRae interview on showmehowtoplay.com
- Tom McRae biography at Allmusic
- youtube video produced by Tom
- press release on undo.net
- Tom McRae interview with Gibson's guitars
- Tom McRae official website
- Wills and the Willing myspace page
- interview with Gibson's guitars