A confessional singer/songwriter, Tom McRae studied music politics at Guild Hall University, soon forming bands and writing songs. A chance meeting with sound engineer Roger Bechirian (Elvis Costello, Squeeze, Carlene Carter) led him to a working relationship. He and Bechirian shaped McRae's soft-spoken sound, which later garnered him a deal with Mercury's db Records. McRae's confessional self-titled debut appeared in fall 2001 and earned him comparisons to Nick Drake and Bob Dylan as well as a Mercury Music Prize nomination. Just Like Blood hit shelves in 2003 and the next year McRae moved to California, where he recorded his third full-length, All Maps Welcome, released in 2005. ~ MacKenzie Wilson