In The Beginning....
Tom A Wright was born into a musical family in Exeter on Christmas Day 1983.
Taking up the Drums at age 6 and guitar shortly after, Tom spent his formative years absorbing the contents of his parents' extensive record collection as well as the popular music of late 80s and early 90s British radio.
Local music festivals too played a large part in Tom's tastes and his family's proximity to the seaside town of Sidmouth drew Tom to it's week long Folk and Traditional Music festival. This early exposure to roots music grew to a life long love of the genre.
Along with folk music, energetic punk and rock music inspired Tom from the moment he encountered them on the mountain-biking and skateboarding videos that were so popular in the late 90s and early 2000s
The Seeds are Sown
Tom's formal musical education began with Saturday morning drum lessons where he learned the intricacies of Jazz, Funk and Latin music and the technical expertise needed to realise the more complex side of music.
How music and recordings are made has always been at the forefront of Tom's mind. Armed with a four track tape machine, His musical instrument salesman Father and studio engineer Uncle were more than happy to impart all that they knew! These experiments allowed Tom to understand early on the way that music fitted together and how to capture the energy of music.
It starts to make sense
Tom started writing, arranging and producing original music around 2000 with local bands around Devon before moving north to Leeds College of Music to study Music Production and Songwriting. Graduating in 2006 with one of the higher marks in his year, Tom started on his first professional recording session on the Monday after handing in his dissertation.
Making it work
Since graduation, Tom has worked both live and in the studio with a wealth of artists including The Albion Band, Eliza Carthy, Mark Radcliffe's Une, Richard Hawley, Reverend & The Makers, Richard Thompson and Darlingside. The variety of roles that Tom has undertaken have given him a wide ranging insight into the world of studio recording and live music performance.
Solving Problems
Tom's diverse skill set has benefited countless artists and audiences to date including one night in Uruguay in 2023 while on tour with Pulp. As Drum and Percussion Tech, Tom was not expecting the sub-in on guitar when Mark Webber fell ill but, with 28 hours' notice, he learned the entire set. The show must go on after all!
Tom A Wright has, to date, worked on over 60 albums, EPs and 7” singles as a producer, performer, songwriter, arranger and engineer in a wealth of genres. His touring work has taken him to almost every continent of the world.
Tom's current Band, The Magpie Arc, sees him working with previous collaborators Martin Simpson and Nancy Kerr and Scottish Musicians Findlay Napier and Alex Hunter to create new music centred around Folk and Traditional music combined with Progressive Rock that has already received much critical acclaim.