Join Cheryl Lee - That Radio Chick on STILL ROCKIN' IT for news, reviews, music and interviews with some of our favourite Australian musicians
A van-side riff, a dust road memory, and a choice to lean back into the sound that fits—this conversation with Tom Mac moves fast and lands deep.
We open on travel as fuel for songwriting: a winter loop across the NT and WA, a four-wheel drive replacing a faithful van, and the freedom that turns hours into hooks. From there, we trace how Nomadic grew from an Instagram riff by Byron’s Pete McCready into a coastal-outback anthem with a video shot across the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast Hinterland. It’s a song that smells like salt and red dust, and it already has the streams to prove it.
We also unpack why Australian country music is surging. Tom lays out the secret: loyalty that spans generations, family-friendly festivals, and a genre that blends pop, Americana, and even hip hop while keeping story at the center. If you’ve wondered why country suddenly feels everywhere, the answer is that it never stopped speaking to the everyday—work, roads, love, and Saturday nights that promise something real. Tom’s journey reflects that pull: a childhood steeped in music thanks to a teacher mum, early gigs that flipped a switch, and a detour into a pop rebrand that taught hard lessons about identity and momentum.
From those lessons came two things: a return to his core as Tom Mac and a booking agency built to protect and empower artists. We talk about turning scars into support and writing with purpose.
Tom performs Play It By Beer live, then turns the spotlight to Nomadic and a full-length album on the way: Dirt Road, named for the long driveway on the family farm and the path that leads back to yourself. If you love country that feels lived-in and modern, you’ll find plenty to hold on to here.
Stream Nomadic, share the episode with a friend who needs a road song.
What has Tom Mac been up to lately? Let's find out!
Get out when you can, support local music and I'll see you down the front!!
Visit: ThatRadioChick.com.au
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome to the Still Rockin' Itpodcast, where we'll have
music, news reviews, andinterviews with some of our
favorite Australian musiciansand artists.
Please join me in the Zoom roomwith a man who has mastered the
didgeri doo.
He's appeared on Saturday NightCountry at the Gympie Muster,
(00:22):
Tamworth Country Music Festival,Baralaba Bash, supported iconic
artists includingEskimo Joe, Kim Churchill, Matt
Corby, and share the stage withBusby Marou.
Spending time on countrylearning our native instrument
is something he's very proud of,and it has brought him closer
(00:43):
to our First Nations people.
And I do love anartist who gives back beyond
music.
Tom dedicated himself toinitiatives like
Busking for Beds, raising funds for homeless charities.
And he remains a vocal advocatefor indigenous culture through
his music and performances.
We're so lucky he plays at thefavourite song live.
(01:05):
We're speaking to Tom Mac, andwe're going to hear all about
the new song.
To catch up on podcasts andother favourite artists, simply
go to that radiochick.com.au.
You're with Cheryl Lee thatRadio Chick and I'd like to
welcome you into the Zoom room.
Today we've got Tom Mac joiningus.
(01:26):
Thanks, Tom.
Tom Mac (01:27):
Thanks, Cheryl.
Thanks for having me.
Cheryl Lee (01:29):
We've got an exciting new single to talk
about.
It's called Nomadic.
Reading about your recenttravels, I think that's quite
apt.
Tom Mac (01:38):
It's very apt, Cheryl.
Yes.
I've actually done a trip well,almost to Adelaide, but went
through the Northern Territoryand WA during, I guess, our
winter.
It can be any sorts of winterwhen you travel that far.
But I took my partner this timeand I've done a lot of
travelling myself.
I actually ditched my van ofseven years to upgrade to a
(02:00):
four-wheel drive so we could gooff-roading.
And that's what I did, as wellas incorporating my music into
the trip as well, which is veryrewarding when a holiday
essentially involves your workas well, which is why we choose
this job in a way.
Cheryl Lee (02:18):
Kill two birds with one stone.
Tom Mac (02:21):
Exactly.
Cheryl Lee (02:22):
We'll talk about the single and how it came about in
a little while, but I was justgoing to ask your opinion.
I get music sent to me all day,every day.
I have just noticed over thelast 12, 18 months, the country
is just going gangbusters.
What is going on?
Tom Mac (02:40):
Well, what was it that made it not go off for the
previous whatever, however,amount of years?
Since maybe you know JohnWilliamson and Slim Dusty made
it cool.
I don't know.
But yeah, it's it's come backin vogue.
I've got to admit, I've lenta little more back into my
country music, not becausethat's happened, it was just
(03:01):
serendipitous because my partneris crazy into country, and I
was I guess I was doing a folkcountry thing, but I've just
sort of lent right into it.
And I that's what I was alwaysmeant to do, you know.
So it's a good thing.
It's a good thing that peoplecan feel comfortable to be
themselves, especially in thecountry realm, because there
might have been a time inAustralia where people felt
(03:21):
like, you know, there was a verysmall market for it, but now,
you know, it's huge and thereare so many festivals.
I've heard a couple of peoplesay that I'm not a massive
advocate for the whole realityTV thing, although, you know,
good luck to anyone that doesit.
But that the country artiststhat come out of that tend to do
quite well as compared to othergenres.
(03:41):
And festivals are, you know,getting great attendances,
whereas other festivals are sortof struggling.
So I I think it's a really goodsort of study almost into the
loyalty behind country people,no matter what age, it's it's
family friendly, you know, youcan go through that revolution
of maybe you know the splendourin the grasses and things like
(04:03):
that when you're younger, butfamilies can do country music
festivals when they're younger,when they're teenagers, early uh
adulthood, and then when theirparents can take their kids.
So yeah, I think it there is areason why this happens.
I mean, I'm not complaining.
Cheryl Lee (04:19):
No, it's fantastic.
50% of the new music comingthrough to me would be have a
country slant on it.
And I love it.
Tom Mac (04:28):
Yeah.
Yeah, definitely.
I think people, yeah, artistsare starting to, you know,
bridge across to other genresbut keep their country.
So country pop, you know, I'mobviously there's, you know,
influences like Morgan Wallenand Luke Combs and Zach Bryan
these days, but you know, notjust that, there are people
going into the Americana thingas well.
(04:48):
Yeah, I think people arestarting to blend genres really
nicely, even hip hop and countrycrazily, you know?
Anything works.
Cheryl Lee (04:57):
Let's go right back to the very beginning for a
second.
Because I was going to ask, ismusic in your DNA?
And I see that mum was a musicteacher.
So was that where you got yourmain influence from?
And you were actually broughtup in the country.
Tom Mac (05:13):
Yes, yeah.
So well, not too far fromAdelaide.
I often think that it's closerto Melbourne.
It is closer to Melbourne, justI grew up between Melbourne and
Adelaide, essentially.
But we played footy againstMount Gambier, you know, in
Hamilton.
So and the Western Border FootyLeague was, but yeah.
No way.
Yeah.
Cheryl Lee (05:28):
My husband is from Goroke.
Tom Mac (05:30):
Oh, really?
Little or little satellitetowns around the area.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I grew up south of Hamilton onthe Port Fairy Road and on a
farm for the first 17 years ofmy life, and Mum was a primary
school music teacher.
She did lean us into music atan early age in a different way.
Like, I think in the end Ijust I found guitar myself.
(05:53):
It wasn't something mum put meon, although she had one stashed
away somewhere.
And a didgeridoo, mind you, andneither well, she couldn't play
it, right?
It was funny that I didn'tactually play either of these
instruments until after I lefthome and I was, you know,
virtually an adult.
I think I started guitar when Iwas 18.
I already had a musical ear,and I'd already played a little
(06:15):
bit of piano and I'd playedclarinets, and mum did have that
influence on us, and she didencourage us to go into musicals
at school, and we did.
Like, I guess that got rid ofthe stage fright.
And that's a huge thing.
Because I think a lot of peoplecan sing, but But not in front
of people.
But not in front of well, theydon't know they can sing.
They don't they haven't tried.
You know, they've got it inthem, but it's just the fear.
(06:37):
And so I think more thananything, going in musicals,
especially where you have tosort of, you know, be a little
bit silly and you know, yeah,jazz handsy or whatever it might
be.
You know, I was in Joseph andthe Amazing Technicolor Dream
Code and Grease and umproductions.
Yeah.
Cheryl Lee (06:52):
So say we have you got some musical siblings as
well.
Tom Mac (06:57):
My brother went in them as well, maybe begrudgingly,
but he was good too.
Like he he played piano aswell, and it's a real pity that
he didn't pursue it because whenI first started gigging, he
came in and he would he wouldduo with me.
We had great harmonies and hedidn't play an instrument at
that point, but he had playedpiano and um he just didn't
pursue it.
I say we because he was eitherin it, I don't think he was in
(07:20):
it, because of choice, but hewas forced in it by mum.
Cheryl Lee (07:24):
bless mum.
Good on her.
Tom Mac (07:26):
Yeah, well he was the youngest of the brothers in
Joseph, I think, from memory.
That was a guy that was so longago.
No, but that's why I say we,and yeah.
Uh mum was always in choirs.
She went to Verona withPavarotti.
I say this and there were10,000 other people in the
choir, but that's her claim tofame.
I sang with Pavarotti.
Cheryl Lee (07:43):
Good on her.
You went off to uni, realizethat really what were you doing
at uni, by the way?
Tom Mac (07:50):
Well, I loved footy.
Um obviously wasn't big enoughto play at the top level, but I
loved it so much that I thought,well, you know what, I'm not
really into much else right now.
And this is a 17-18, and I dida sports admin business degree,
but I didn't realise that whenyou got out into the workforce,
football clubs are basicallylike any big other big corporate
organizations.
(08:10):
And I started loving my musicmore and I just progressed out
of that, you know, after thefirst or second year of working
full-time, I just realized itwasn't for me, and I get easily
bored, you know, a bit of anADHD brain, and I just took to
music.
And I once I started learningguitar, it just came to me.
I learned Stairway to Heaven asthe first song.
People don't do that, they doWonder Wall or you know Junger
(08:33):
Junger songs, and I'm justsitting here trying to, you
know, get my fingers around sortof more classical stuff.
But I just had that light bulbmoment when I played my first
gig on Hamilton Island, it was.
Adam Thompson from ChocolateStarfish gave me my first ever
gig on Hamilton Island, and Ijust had that light bulb moment
where I thought, oh my god, Ican get paid for this, make
(08:54):
people happy.
It's a massive rush.
I'm like, I've been lied to mywhole life.
I thought union school wasmeant to be what life was all
about.
Cheryl Lee (09:04):
Parts of that uni course would have helped you
with your other little sidelinethat you had.
You went to music, you did alittle bit of a U-turn with your
music genre.
Tom Mac (09:16):
So, I mean, I started out, I guess what you'd class
coastal country.
I probably influences were, youknow, a mix of Jack Johnson and
Xavier Rudd, and then also, youknow, Bruce Springsteen, Neil
Young, because I playedharmonica, and then Keith Urban
and the country guys, andprobably John Williamson to a
(09:38):
degree as well.
And all that blend wasbasically where I started, and
it was I would call it coastalcountry.
People kept saying, Oh, yousound country.
You should go to Tamworth, andyou know, this was in my early
twenties, and I got picked up bya guy who felt that I should be
should change my name, changemy brand.
I was young enough to beimpressionable at the time.
Cheryl Lee (09:58):
And what did he change your name to?
Tom Mac (10:00):
Uh Wexford.
I was playing under Tom, whichis my actual surname, and he
said, let's change to Wexford.
Unfortunately, we you know, wedidn't know, we couldn't, you
know, look into the future, butat the time Facebook was the
main thing.
We'd just come out of MySpace.
Probably Facebook was the mainthing, and and you couldn't
change your music page name.
(10:22):
You had to start again.
So I had all this momentumbehind this that album that I
created under Tom.
All my friends had my album,you know, I was pulling three or
four hundred people to launchesand things like that.
And then yeah, I for somereason I went down this path and
we recorded a few songs, a verypoppy.
Yeah, I had to change myFacebook name to Wexford, and
(10:42):
and it was a whole it justconfused everybody.
Like, like, is this a band?
Is this what what is this?
And I pursued it for about twoor three years and then I just
pulled a pin.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
Yeah.
Tom Mac (10:52):
I just I I'd spent too much money and and I'd sort of
lost momentum with the Tomstuff.
So I started a booking agencyand just started playing covers
and weddings, and that was to methat seemed like a a better
idea than losing money.
I liked to make it, butobviously that burning desire
was still there.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
Yeah.
Tom Mac (11:09):
My strength was in my writing, and I knew that.
Yes, you know, my storytelling,because I used to do poetry at
school, and I just blendedpoetry with music, with singing,
with guitar, and no, what youjust realize that if you get to
the end of your life and you'renot serving your soul's purpose,
then you're gonna have regrets.
I thought, you know what, I'llstart new, I'll start with my
(11:29):
middle name, McFarlane, I'lljust I'll call myself Tom Mac.
I just, you know, let's forgetabout the past.
Cheryl Lee (11:35):
Yeah.
It's never really too late.
And if you sort of do veer offwhat your life track's supposed
to be, you can always veer back.
Tom Mac (11:43):
Exactly, yes.
Yeah.
Don't leave it until you're 70,but but you know, I I think you
know you're right, it is nevertoo late.
Yeah, I think you grow frommaking all those mistakes too.
Cheryl Lee (11:54):
And I'd hate really learned a lot of lessons.
Tom Mac (11:57):
Oh, absolutely, and that's why that's why running a
booking agency the way I do is abit unique.
It's like psychologists becomepsychologists, some of them do,
from traumas, you know, becausethey want to help people not to
feel the way they've felt orwhatever, you know, suffer the
way they've suffered.
And I I think that's a drivingforce behind the booking agency
(12:18):
because more it's like anundercover music union flash,
you know, music support forartists as well.
And I just don't want them togo through some of the things
I've gone through really.
Cheryl Lee (12:29):
They can learn from your lessons.
Tom Mac (12:30):
Yes.
Cheryl Lee (12:31):
Awesome.
I've been playing Play It byBeer for a while now.
You know, it's just one ofthose typical tongue-in-cheek,
you know, not too seriouscountry songs.
The new one, Nomadic, is quitedifferent.
And this song I think comestogether pretty much differently
than anything you've everwritten before.
Tom Mac (12:52):
Yeah, well, this one I got a riff from a a young artist
in in Byron.
His name's Pete McCredie.
He's doing quite well actuallynow.
And so he and his brother aredoing really well today down in
Byron there, and they're fromNewcastle.
And I met them through wholevan life, you know, that era.
So I found this little riff onhis Instagram and he was playing
with a mate in the back of hisvan, and I thought, that is so
(13:15):
catchy.
And I asked him, What is this?
Like, is this a a song thatalready exists, or is it just
something you've come up withand you've put up because it
sounds cool?
And he said, It actually is ariff from a song that I
released, one of my very firstreleases when I was really
young.
And I said, Look, I I want toreimagine it as a country song,
because I just hear country inthis.
(13:35):
Uh he said, Great.
I said, Look, we'll we'll do aroyalty.
We came up with a figure.
I went away and I wrote itreally quickly because it
actually lent itself still tohis kind of lifestyle, what I
had been through, the coastalsurfy kind of lifestyle, and
(13:56):
then blending that with country.
And the whole story of it, youknow, the first verse and chorus
is like you're on the beach,and then the second is you're in
the outback.
And it just came together sonicely and naturally, and I
always knew it was gonna be oneof the bigger tracks than a
single that I wanted to uh youknow get behind.
And so it's got about a hundredand seventy thousand streams
(14:19):
already here in ten days, whichis crazy.
Cheryl Lee (14:25):
Did I see a guitar somewhere there?
Tom Mac (14:27):
Yes, you did.
Cheryl Lee (14:28):
Are you gonna do a tour?
Yes, I'm doing an album.
Tom Mac (14:32):
That'll happen when the album comes out.
Cheryl Lee (14:34):
Do a tour to promote the album.
Tom Mac (14:37):
Yeah, yeah.
This was gonna be an EP withthis song being the last one,
but I decided I wanted to do awhole album to go a bit more old
school.
I just prefer touring a wholealbum.
But I've got more songs that Iwant to bring out, and there's
another song that I've alreadywritten with a mate down in the
Gold Coast called Dirt Road.
So I'm gonna call it Dirt Road.
Cheryl Lee (14:56):
You're gonna call the album Dirt Road.
Tom Mac (14:58):
Yeah, because it reminds me of our driveway, like
our one kilometer driveway backon the farm, and that was
that's what it's all about goingback to that dirt road.
Cheryl Lee (15:07):
Do you have a rough ETA?
Tom Mac (15:09):
It'll be like July, August.
Cheryl Lee (15:11):
You heard it first here, everybody next year,
July-ish.
Brand new album, followed bytwo.
You're gonna come to Adelaide?
Tom Mac (15:18):
Oh, I'll have to.
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
Cheryl Lee (15:20):
Yeah.
Tom Mac (15:21):
Alright, so let's do play it by beer because Cheryl
has requested play it by beer.
Also based on the fact she'sgonna play nomadic after the
episode.
Cheryl Lee (19:08):
Yay!
Tom Mac (19:10):
Thank you.
Cheryl Lee (19:11):
Very good.
You know, I can't get any moreAustralian than a song about
beer.
Speaker 2 (19:16):
Right.
Cheryl Lee (19:18):
You know what I reckon?
I could hear that little bit ofKeith Urban influence in that
one.
Tom Mac (19:24):
I'm not shying away from that.
Cheryl Lee (19:27):
Well, thank you so much, Tom.
You know what?
I thought Tom Mac was inreference to a Mac truck.
You've explained that now.
It's been great chatting toyou, and I wish you all the best
with the release of the newsingle.
Get on to all the usualsuspects and have a listen to
Nomadic.
And we are waiting excitedlyfor the new album next year.
Tom Mac (19:49):
Definitely.
Yes.
No, thanks for having me.
It was nice to chat.
And yeah, no, no doubt we'llchat again when that all
happens.
Cheryl Lee (19:56):
Absolutely.
We'll chat about the new albumrelease and we'll chat about you
coming to our beautiful town ofAdelaide.
Tom Mac (20:02):
Right, no, it sounds good.
Thanks, Cheryl.
Cheryl Lee (20:04):
Thanks, Tom.
See you next time.
Tom Mac (20:06):
Bye bye.
You are listening to StillRockin' It, the podcast with
Cheryl Lee.
Cheryl Lee (20:14):
As promised, let's hear the brand new single now.
By the way, there's also agreat music video for this
single, directed by Mike Mikha,and it perfectly captures the
track's adventurous dispositionfilmed across the Gold Coast and
the Sunshine Coast Hinterland.
The ultimate anthem for roadtrippers, dreamers, and anyone
(20:36):
ready to leave the everydaybehind and chase adventure.
Let's do that right now.
Here it is, Tom Mac, nomadic.
(24:04):
Thank you so much for joining meon the Still Rockin' It
podcast.
Hope to catch you again nexttime.
Get out when you can, supportAussie music, and I'll see you
down the front.
Welcome to the Still Rockin' Itpodcast, where we'll have
music, news reviews, andinterviews with some of our
favorite Australian musiciansand artists.
Please join me in the Zoom roomwith a man who has mastered the
didgeri doo.
He's appeared on Saturday NightCountry at the Gympie Muster,
(00:22):
Tamworth Country Music Festival,Baralaba Bash, supported iconic
artists includingEskimo Joe, Kim Churchill, Matt
Corby, and share the stage withBusby Marou.
Spending time on countrylearning our native instrument
is something he's very proud of,and it has brought him closer
(00:43):
to our First Nations people.
And I do love anartist who gives back beyond
music.
Tom dedicated himself toinitiatives like
Busking for Beds, raising funds for homeless charities.
And he remains a vocal advocatefor indigenous culture through
his music and performances.
We're so lucky he plays at thefavourite song live.
(01:05):
We're speaking to Tom Mac, andwe're going to hear all about
the new song.
To catch up on podcasts andother favourite artists, simply
go to that radiochick.com.au.
You're with Cheryl Lee thatRadio Chick and I'd like to
welcome you into the Zoom room.
Today we've got Tom Mac joiningus.
(01:26):
Thanks, Tom.
Tom Mac (01:27):
Thanks, Cheryl.
Thanks for having me.
Cheryl Lee (01:29):
We've got an exciting new single to talk
about.
It's called Nomadic.
Reading about your recenttravels, I think that's quite
apt.
Tom Mac (01:38):
It's very apt, Cheryl.
Yes.
I've actually done a trip well,almost to Adelaide, but went
through the Northern Territoryand WA during, I guess, our
winter.
It can be any sorts of winterwhen you travel that far.
But I took my partner this timeand I've done a lot of
travelling myself.
I actually ditched my van ofseven years to upgrade to a
(02:00):
four-wheel drive so we could gooff-roading.
And that's what I did, as wellas incorporating my music into
the trip as well, which is veryrewarding when a holiday
essentially involves your workas well, which is why we choose
this job in a way.
Cheryl Lee (02:18):
Kill two birds with one stone.
Tom Mac (02:21):
Exactly.
Cheryl Lee (02:22):
We'll talk about the single and how it came about in
a little while, but I was justgoing to ask your opinion.
I get music sent to me all day,every day.
I have just noticed over thelast 12, 18 months, the country
is just going gangbusters.
What is going on?
Tom Mac (02:40):
Well, what was it that made it not go off for the
previous whatever, however,amount of years?
Since maybe you know JohnWilliamson and Slim Dusty made
it cool.
I don't know.
But yeah, it's it's come backin vogue.
I've got to admit, I've lenta little more back into my
country music, not becausethat's happened, it was just
(03:01):
serendipitous because my partneris crazy into country, and I
was I guess I was doing a folkcountry thing, but I've just
sort of lent right into it.
And I that's what I was alwaysmeant to do, you know.
So it's a good thing.
It's a good thing that peoplecan feel comfortable to be
themselves, especially in thecountry realm, because there
might have been a time inAustralia where people felt
(03:21):
like, you know, there was a verysmall market for it, but now,
you know, it's huge and thereare so many festivals.
I've heard a couple of peoplesay that I'm not a massive
advocate for the whole realityTV thing, although, you know,
good luck to anyone that doesit.
But that the country artiststhat come out of that tend to do
quite well as compared to othergenres.
(03:41):
And festivals are, you know,getting great attendances,
whereas other festivals are sortof struggling.
So I I think it's a really goodsort of study almost into the
loyalty behind country people,no matter what age, it's it's
family friendly, you know, youcan go through that revolution
of maybe you know the splendourin the grasses and things like
(04:03):
that when you're younger, butfamilies can do country music
festivals when they're younger,when they're teenagers, early uh
adulthood, and then when theirparents can take their kids.
So yeah, I think it there is areason why this happens.
I mean, I'm not complaining.
Cheryl Lee (04:19):
No, it's fantastic.
50% of the new music comingthrough to me would be have a
country slant on it.
And I love it.
Tom Mac (04:28):
Yeah.
Yeah, definitely.
I think people, yeah, artistsare starting to, you know,
bridge across to other genresbut keep their country.
So country pop, you know, I'mobviously there's, you know,
influences like Morgan Wallenand Luke Combs and Zach Bryan
these days, but you know, notjust that, there are people
going into the Americana thingas well.
(04:48):
Yeah, I think people arestarting to blend genres really
nicely, even hip hop and countrycrazily, you know?
Anything works.
Cheryl Lee (04:57):
Let's go right back to the very beginning for a
second.
Because I was going to ask, ismusic in your DNA?
And I see that mum was a musicteacher.
So was that where you got yourmain influence from?
And you were actually broughtup in the country.
Tom Mac (05:13):
Yes, yeah.
So well, not too far fromAdelaide.
I often think that it's closerto Melbourne.
It is closer to Melbourne, justI grew up between Melbourne and
Adelaide, essentially.
But we played footy againstMount Gambier, you know, in
Hamilton.
So and the Western Border FootyLeague was, but yeah.
No way.
Yeah.
Cheryl Lee (05:28):
My husband is from Goroke.
Tom Mac (05:30):
Oh, really?
Little or little satellitetowns around the area.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I grew up south of Hamilton onthe Port Fairy Road and on a
farm for the first 17 years ofmy life, and Mum was a primary
school music teacher.
She did lean us into music atan early age in a different way.
Like, I think in the end Ijust I found guitar myself.
(05:53):
It wasn't something mum put meon, although she had one stashed
away somewhere.
And a didgeridoo, mind you, andneither well, she couldn't play
it, right?
It was funny that I didn'tactually play either of these
instruments until after I lefthome and I was, you know,
virtually an adult.
I think I started guitar when Iwas 18.
I already had a musical ear,and I'd already played a little
(06:15):
bit of piano and I'd playedclarinets, and mum did have that
influence on us, and she didencourage us to go into musicals
at school, and we did.
Like, I guess that got rid ofthe stage fright.
And that's a huge thing.
Because I think a lot of peoplecan sing, but But not in front
of people.
But not in front of well, theydon't know they can sing.
They don't they haven't tried.
You know, they've got it inthem, but it's just the fear.
(06:37):
And so I think more thananything, going in musicals,
especially where you have tosort of, you know, be a little
bit silly and you know, yeah,jazz handsy or whatever it might
be.
You know, I was in Joseph andthe Amazing Technicolor Dream
Code and Grease and umproductions.
Yeah.
Cheryl Lee (06:52):
So say we have you got some musical siblings as
well.
Tom Mac (06:57):
My brother went in them as well, maybe begrudgingly,
but he was good too.
Like he he played piano aswell, and it's a real pity that
he didn't pursue it because whenI first started gigging, he
came in and he would he wouldduo with me.
We had great harmonies and hedidn't play an instrument at
that point, but he had playedpiano and um he just didn't
pursue it.
I say we because he was eitherin it, I don't think he was in
(07:20):
it, because of choice, but hewas forced in it by mum.
Cheryl Lee (07:24):
bless mum.
Good on her.
Tom Mac (07:26):
Yeah, well he was the youngest of the brothers in
Joseph, I think, from memory.
That was a guy that was so longago.
No, but that's why I say we,and yeah.
Uh mum was always in choirs.
She went to Verona withPavarotti.
I say this and there were10,000 other people in the
choir, but that's her claim tofame.
I sang with Pavarotti.
Cheryl Lee (07:43):
Good on her.
You went off to uni, realizethat really what were you doing
at uni, by the way?
Tom Mac (07:50):
Well, I loved footy.
Um obviously wasn't big enoughto play at the top level, but I
loved it so much that I thought,well, you know what, I'm not
really into much else right now.
And this is a 17-18, and I dida sports admin business degree,
but I didn't realise that whenyou got out into the workforce,
football clubs are basicallylike any big other big corporate
organizations.
(08:10):
And I started loving my musicmore and I just progressed out
of that, you know, after thefirst or second year of working
full-time, I just realized itwasn't for me, and I get easily
bored, you know, a bit of anADHD brain, and I just took to
music.
And I once I started learningguitar, it just came to me.
I learned Stairway to Heaven asthe first song.
People don't do that, they doWonder Wall or you know Junger
(08:33):
Junger songs, and I'm justsitting here trying to, you
know, get my fingers around sortof more classical stuff.
But I just had that light bulbmoment when I played my first
gig on Hamilton Island, it was.
Adam Thompson from ChocolateStarfish gave me my first ever
gig on Hamilton Island, and Ijust had that light bulb moment
where I thought, oh my god, Ican get paid for this, make
(08:54):
people happy.
It's a massive rush.
I'm like, I've been lied to mywhole life.
I thought union school wasmeant to be what life was all
about.
Cheryl Lee (09:04):
Parts of that uni course would have helped you
with your other little sidelinethat you had.
You went to music, you did alittle bit of a U-turn with your
music genre.
Tom Mac (09:16):
So, I mean, I started out, I guess what you'd class
coastal country.
I probably influences were, youknow, a mix of Jack Johnson and
Xavier Rudd, and then also, youknow, Bruce Springsteen, Neil
Young, because I playedharmonica, and then Keith Urban
and the country guys, andprobably John Williamson to a
(09:38):
degree as well.
And all that blend wasbasically where I started, and
it was I would call it coastalcountry.
People kept saying, Oh, yousound country.
You should go to Tamworth, andyou know, this was in my early
twenties, and I got picked up bya guy who felt that I should be
should change my name, changemy brand.
I was young enough to beimpressionable at the time.
Cheryl Lee (09:58):
And what did he change your name to?
Tom Mac (10:00):
Uh Wexford.
I was playing under Tom, whichis my actual surname, and he
said, let's change to Wexford.
Unfortunately, we you know, wedidn't know, we couldn't, you
know, look into the future, butat the time Facebook was the
main thing.
We'd just come out of MySpace.
Probably Facebook was the mainthing, and and you couldn't
change your music page name.
(10:22):
You had to start again.
So I had all this momentumbehind this that album that I
created under Tom.
All my friends had my album,you know, I was pulling three or
four hundred people to launchesand things like that.
And then yeah, I for somereason I went down this path and
we recorded a few songs, a verypoppy.
Yeah, I had to change myFacebook name to Wexford, and
(10:42):
and it was a whole it justconfused everybody.
Like, like, is this a band?
Is this what what is this?
And I pursued it for about twoor three years and then I just
pulled a pin.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
Yeah.
Tom Mac (10:52):
I just I I'd spent too much money and and I'd sort of
lost momentum with the Tomstuff.
So I started a booking agencyand just started playing covers
and weddings, and that was to methat seemed like a a better
idea than losing money.
I liked to make it, butobviously that burning desire
was still there.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
Yeah.
Tom Mac (11:09):
My strength was in my writing, and I knew that.
Yes, you know, my storytelling,because I used to do poetry at
school, and I just blendedpoetry with music, with singing,
with guitar, and no, what youjust realize that if you get to
the end of your life and you'renot serving your soul's purpose,
then you're gonna have regrets.
I thought, you know what, I'llstart new, I'll start with my
(11:29):
middle name, McFarlane, I'lljust I'll call myself Tom Mac.
I just, you know, let's forgetabout the past.
Cheryl Lee (11:35):
Yeah.
It's never really too late.
And if you sort of do veer offwhat your life track's supposed
to be, you can always veer back.
Tom Mac (11:43):
Exactly, yes.
Yeah.
Don't leave it until you're 70,but but you know, I I think you
know you're right, it is nevertoo late.
Yeah, I think you grow frommaking all those mistakes too.
Cheryl Lee (11:54):
And I'd hate really learned a lot of lessons.
Tom Mac (11:57):
Oh, absolutely, and that's why that's why running a
booking agency the way I do is abit unique.
It's like psychologists becomepsychologists, some of them do,
from traumas, you know, becausethey want to help people not to
feel the way they've felt orwhatever, you know, suffer the
way they've suffered.
And I I think that's a drivingforce behind the booking agency
(12:18):
because more it's like anundercover music union flash,
you know, music support forartists as well.
And I just don't want them togo through some of the things
I've gone through really.
Cheryl Lee (12:29):
They can learn from your lessons.
Tom Mac (12:30):
Yes.
Cheryl Lee (12:31):
Awesome.
I've been playing Play It byBeer for a while now.
You know, it's just one ofthose typical tongue-in-cheek,
you know, not too seriouscountry songs.
The new one, Nomadic, is quitedifferent.
And this song I think comestogether pretty much differently
than anything you've everwritten before.
Tom Mac (12:52):
Yeah, well, this one I got a riff from a a young artist
in in Byron.
His name's Pete McCredie.
He's doing quite well actuallynow.
And so he and his brother aredoing really well today down in
Byron there, and they're fromNewcastle.
And I met them through wholevan life, you know, that era.
So I found this little riff onhis Instagram and he was playing
with a mate in the back of hisvan, and I thought, that is so
(13:15):
catchy.
And I asked him, What is this?
Like, is this a a song thatalready exists, or is it just
something you've come up withand you've put up because it
sounds cool?
And he said, It actually is ariff from a song that I
released, one of my very firstreleases when I was really
young.
And I said, Look, I I want toreimagine it as a country song,
because I just hear country inthis.
(13:35):
Uh he said, Great.
I said, Look, we'll we'll do aroyalty.
We came up with a figure.
I went away and I wrote itreally quickly because it
actually lent itself still tohis kind of lifestyle, what I
had been through, the coastalsurfy kind of lifestyle, and
(13:56):
then blending that with country.
And the whole story of it, youknow, the first verse and chorus
is like you're on the beach,and then the second is you're in
the outback.
And it just came together sonicely and naturally, and I
always knew it was gonna be oneof the bigger tracks than a
single that I wanted to uh youknow get behind.
And so it's got about a hundredand seventy thousand streams
(14:19):
already here in ten days, whichis crazy.
Cheryl Lee (14:25):
Did I see a guitar somewhere there?
Tom Mac (14:27):
Yes, you did.
Cheryl Lee (14:28):
Are you gonna do a tour?
Yes, I'm doing an album.
Tom Mac (14:32):
That'll happen when the album comes out.
Cheryl Lee (14:34):
Do a tour to promote the album.
Tom Mac (14:37):
Yeah, yeah.
This was gonna be an EP withthis song being the last one,
but I decided I wanted to do awhole album to go a bit more old
school.
I just prefer touring a wholealbum.
But I've got more songs that Iwant to bring out, and there's
another song that I've alreadywritten with a mate down in the
Gold Coast called Dirt Road.
So I'm gonna call it Dirt Road.
Cheryl Lee (14:56):
You're gonna call the album Dirt Road.
Tom Mac (14:58):
Yeah, because it reminds me of our driveway, like
our one kilometer driveway backon the farm, and that was
that's what it's all about goingback to that dirt road.
Cheryl Lee (15:07):
Do you have a rough ETA?
Tom Mac (15:09):
It'll be like July, August.
Cheryl Lee (15:11):
You heard it first here, everybody next year,
July-ish.
Brand new album, followed bytwo.
You're gonna come to Adelaide?
Tom Mac (15:18):
Oh, I'll have to.
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
Cheryl Lee (15:20):
Yeah.
Tom Mac (15:21):
Alright, so let's do play it by beer because Cheryl
has requested play it by beer.
Also based on the fact she'sgonna play nomadic after the
episode.
Cheryl Lee (19:08):
Yay!
Tom Mac (19:10):
Thank you.
Cheryl Lee (19:11):
Very good.
You know, I can't get any moreAustralian than a song about
beer.
Speaker 2 (19:16):
Right.
Cheryl Lee (19:18):
You know what I reckon?
I could hear that little bit ofKeith Urban influence in that
one.
Tom Mac (19:24):
I'm not shying away from that.
Cheryl Lee (19:27):
Well, thank you so much, Tom.
You know what?
I thought Tom Mac was inreference to a Mac truck.
You've explained that now.
It's been great chatting toyou, and I wish you all the best
with the release of the newsingle.
Get on to all the usualsuspects and have a listen to
Nomadic.
And we are waiting excitedlyfor the new album next year.
Tom Mac (19:49):
Definitely.
Yes.
No, thanks for having me.
It was nice to chat.
And yeah, no, no doubt we'llchat again when that all
happens.
Cheryl Lee (19:56):
Absolutely.
We'll chat about the new albumrelease and we'll chat about you
coming to our beautiful town ofAdelaide.
Tom Mac (20:02):
Right, no, it sounds good.
Thanks, Cheryl.
Cheryl Lee (20:04):
Thanks, Tom.
See you next time.
Tom Mac (20:06):
Bye bye.
You are listening to StillRockin' It, the podcast with
Cheryl Lee.
Cheryl Lee (20:14):
As promised, let's hear the brand new single now.
By the way, there's also agreat music video for this
single, directed by Mike Mikha,and it perfectly captures the
track's adventurous dispositionfilmed across the Gold Coast and
the Sunshine Coast Hinterland.
The ultimate anthem for roadtrippers, dreamers, and anyone
(20:36):
ready to leave the everydaybehind and chase adventure.
Let's do that right now.
Here it is, Tom Mac, nomadic.
(24:04):
Thank you so much for joining meon the Still Rockin' It
podcast.
Hope to catch you again nexttime.
Get out when you can, supportAussie music, and I'll see you
down the front.
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