Tom's biography, well the printable bits anyhow!

Having grown up outside Ballycastle in Country Antrim and went to school there, the opportunities for a career in music did not initially present themselves. I began to learn guitar and sing while at secondary school in the late sixties, may I add much to the amusement of my class mates. Music provided a much needed diversion from the burden of study required to achieve good O'levels and the ambition to become a school teacher became more and more attractive. After much practice and endless rehearsal two friends and myself formed a country/pop trio inappropriately called ‘The Saints,' kitted out with two acoustics and a drum kit all crammed into my newly acquired Ford Cortina, we were ready to tour the world, well the north coast of Ireland anyhow. Teacher's training college followed at St Josephs Belfast during the height of ‘the troubles' and during that period I sang one song on an EP recorded at Outlet Studios in Belfast as a member of a young and upcoming seven piece band called ‘The Glen Country.' The song was Kris Kristofferson's ‘Sunday morning Comin' Down,' which I still love to this day.

On a sunny September morning I drove into my first teaching job in St Brigid's Ballymoney, armed with the essential tools of my trade, chalk, books and of course my guitar. Eight brilliant years passed too quickly, the highlight of which was an appearance on a national talent show in ITV's ‘Opportunity Knocks.' Following ‘Op Knocks,' I took some months from teaching to tour the Working Man's Clubs, Holiday Camps and theatres of England , ah, fame at last! Returning to teaching after my fairly short journey into the hectic world of show business a career move was on the cards with my moving to St Brigid's Primary School in Cloughmills as the newly appointed and terrified Principal. I had a great bunch of kids in the school who loved music and who were delighted when I recorded the Ricky Scaggs composition, ‘Don't Cheat in Our Hometown.' These same kids did me an enormous favour when they wrote to UTV's ‘Good Evening Ulster' asking to sing along with their teacher on TV. The first I knew about the ‘conspiracy' was the arrival of a UTV camera crew at the school wanting to do feature on the ‘Singing Schoolteacher,' how fantastic! This stroke of genius on the pupils' part and the exposure made the song into quite a hit throughout Ireland and indeed the UK . Following hard on the heels of this break came the opportunity to go to Nashville and appear on the Saturday gospel slot in the ‘Grand ole' Opry,' definitely an experience to cherish.

As the years went on a busy solo career took off with me starting to write my own songs to perform in the concert halls, wine bars and clubs. My blend of country and acoustic rock found a good niche in this market. Probably, it was part of a mid life crisis, but I returned to the academic life in 2002 when I completed a masters degree in education and a law degree in 2008. As one of my journalist friends, the ‘Singing Farmer' wrote, ‘Tom can now sing in court!'

Having left the world of teaching in 2006, music again drives my ambition. The album, ‘Storm' in 2006 occupied a number one slot, based on airplay in the UK Country Charts and the new album, ‘Stars' released in 2009 has 10 songs with eight originals. However, no sooner one album of songs been released when the next one is on the horizon. So far I've had a good life full of change and variety; I just don't want it to pass too quickly.