20 Facts About Tom McRae

The son of two Church of England vicars, McRae sang in the church choir and as a teen experimented with his mother's guitar.

Subsequently, Tom McRae was involved in bands "Raising Cain" and "Orchid Lounge".

In 2000, director Scott Walker chose Tom McRae to perform at the Meltdown Festival in the Royal Festival Hall.

Tom 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 Tom McRae gained nominations for the Mercury Prize, a Q magazine award and the BRIT Award for Best Newcomer.

Tom McRae then moved to California, where he wrote and recorded his next album, All Maps Welcome, which was released in May 2005.

In spring 2008, Tom McRae brought the Hotel Cafe Tour to the UK, and for the first time, took it to continental Europe.

Tom McRae was a guest vocalist for the 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.

Towards the end of 2010, Tom McRae was involved in the Crossing Border festival in the Netherlands, playing with the Matangi Quartet who are based in that country.

Tom McRae released a second live album, Tom at Tut's with songs and banter garnered from 2 full band gigs at King Tut's Wah Wah Hut in Glasgow in 2004.

In 2014, among other writing projects, Tom McRae wrote the song, "Love More or Less" for Marianne Faithfull's album, Give My Love to London and worked on his seventh album, "Did I Sleep and Miss the Border", released on 11 May 2015.

In 2020, Tom McRae collaborated with Welsh singer-songwriter Lowri Evans, under the name Evans-Mcrae, to create an album of original music entitled Only Skin.

Tom McRae takes to the longest tour of his career this Autumn 2024, around the United Kingdom, Crown Dependancies and Europe.

Tom McRae was once cast in an independent film as Gram Parson's ghost.

Tom McRae contributed to a compilation album, Hope 2003, in support of children in Iraq who were affected by war.

Tom McRae contributed a cover version of "Wonderful Christmastime" to a Christmas compilation album: Maybe This Christmas Tree released in 2004.

Tom McRae provided some of the vocals on "Lipstick", a 2008 single by "Wills and the Willing" having written parts of the song after listening to the original material.

Tom McRae wrote the song, "Love More or Less" for Marianne Faithfull's album, Give My Love to London and worked on his seventh album, "Did I Sleep and Miss the Border" was due for release on 11 May 2015.

Tom McRae contributed music to the soundtracks of the movies Uno and Unsuitable.

Tom McRae's cover of Wonderful Christmastime was used in the TV version of film Lost Christmas starring Eddie Izzard but was not used in the DVD version.