Tom McRae Discography

• 
  King Of Cards
  (2007)
• 
  All Maps Welcome
  (2005)
• 
  Just Like Blood
  (2001)
• 
  Tom McRae
  (2000)

Jeremy Thomas McRae Blackall (born 19 March 1969), known commonly by his artist name, Tom McRae is a singer-songwriter from England. The son of two Church of England vicars, he grew up in Chelmsford. McRae sang in the church choir and as a teen would borrow his mother`s guitar. 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 London Guildhall University to study politics and government, and was soon forming bands. 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. 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 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. In 2004, McRae was nominated for a GRAMMY Award. Following this, he 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. In autumn 2008 he toured the North Eastern states of America and Canada. His "Alphabet of Hurricanes" Tour takes off in UK and Europe this September.