Tom Cary is a singer songwriter from Cornwall. He’s toured all over the UK and was nominated for three BCMA awards. In the midst of planning, promoting and training for his upcoming, Tom Cary spoke to Tea with G about his Country Across the Country tour, his passion for performing live and the career moment he’ll never forget.
On the 15th June, Cary will embark on a challenge that will require both physical and mental strength – he is cycling from John O’ Groats to Land’s End. He has estimated that the 12000 miles will take him 20 days to complete.
This isn’t just any old charity bike ride, no. Cary will be literally going the extra mile as he performs a country music gig at every stop. Yes – 20 days, 20 gigs, over 12000 miles. He’s calling it Country Across the Country, and he hopes to finish at Land’s End on 5th July to celebrate his birthday. I argued that this would be the worst birthday ever with him being so tired but he’s a man that loves to surf, row, cycle, swim, run and sing so this is probably pretty perfect.
But why, I hear you ask? Well, as a Cornwall resident and an active sportsperson, Cary is very aware of the importance of the services that keep everyone safe, particularly the Air Ambulance. “They have to say no to quite a few shouts, especially in the summer,” he says about the helicopters, “some days in the summer there can be seven shouts.”
Cary is embarking on this endeavour to raise money for the Cornwall Air Ambulance service. With 21 bases across the country and 37 helicopters in action, Cornwall was one of the first areas to introduce the service.
Now, as one the UK’s most favourable holiday destinations and an area that is both vast and difficult to access, the Air Ambulance can’t meet the demands of the accident-prone summer months. Cary hopes to raise enough money to tip them over into affording a second helicopter.
“Being a cyclist myself and doing triathlons and stuff like that, training on the road, you really do get the sense of how easily something serious could happen,” he says, “I’ve nearly been killed on my bike numerous times and I know friends of mine who have ended up in hospital.”
Cary and I had our interview scheduled the previous day but we rearranged it so that he could get some promo shots with the helicopter. Unfortunately, due to the nature of the charity event, the helicopter was called out. Cary is on his fifth attempt to get some promo shots, highlighting the real need for a second helicopter as the service stretches its capacity before even nearing the heights of summer.
With just his dad bringing up the rear in his trusty campervan where he’ll sleep each night, Cary will be taking on this challenge alone. I asked if he’d be able to cycle and play at the same time and he laughed, “probably doesn’t promote road safety very well,” he says as we decide that needing the Air Ambulance while trying to raise money for it it not wonderful publicity.
Cycling from John O’Groats to Lands End in aid of a charity close to your heart sounds like the ultimate adventure – if you’re a cyclist – especially if you can pair it with another passion like playing country music.
However, once the wine has worn off (because I can’t imagine an idea like this seeming like a good one without at least glass or two) there are an inordinate number of boxes to tick and hoops to jump through.
“I don’t know how people do these things with full time jobs,” Cary says about arranging the whole thing along, “the organisation, getting bands involved, the design work involved, getting t-shirts printed, venues involved, health risk, health and safety risks, getting everything signed off by the relevant team people at the Cornwall Air Ambulance, creating all the pages, creating all the branding, the artwork, the social media campaign.” It’s exhausting just thinking about it all!
The 2023 BCMA awards saw Cary nominated for UK Single of the Year, UK Male Vocalist of the Year and Independent Radio Presenter of the Year. Unfortunately, Cary lost out to some stiff competition. Humble and gracious, Cary recognises the talent in the UK industry at the minute and is both happy for and supportive of the artists that won those categories.
With the conversation now firmly in the field of country music, I was curious to know Cary’s thoughts on UK vs US country music. We all know that the genre is on the up, but the UK still cannot compete with the success of the US artists. We are just a tiny baby sibling over the water, and I’m always intrigued to see why UK artists think that is.
“I think the UK country scene has to accept that we are different, and embrace that,” Cary says, “I think the difference for the UK country scene to the American country scene is an obvious one it’s the twang, the drawl, the accent.”
“The music of the nation is a shadow of its culture in one way or another,” Cary adds, “country music is definitely one of those that is very deep rooted in the culture of the nation – everything from the lyrics to the instruments involved, the fashion that goes alongside it. The image, the branding, everything is very cowboy hat – because they wear them over there, cowboy boots – because they wear them over there. It’s a way of life over there. Over here it’s not a way of life, it’s just something that is associated with country music.”
We talk about how, in the UK, you hear the word, ‘country’ and you’re more likely to associate it with the countryside and UK farming - much more likely to require a pair of wellies and raincoat than a cowboy hat and boots.
“I think in this regard – and I’m probably going to be shot to pieces for saying this, but I’ll say it anyway – this is only my personal opinion, but I think the UK country music started as folk music…and it’s been latched to country music.” Cary is measured in his responses and takes time to gather his thoughts.
“UK country is its own genre. It’s not American country. I don’t think we all need to wear cowboy hats and play a guitar and say that we’re country singers. I think it’s OK not to, and it’s ok to be our own…I think those fine differences between UK and American country music and those differences are what make genres what they are, and I think we should embrace them.”
The main thing Cary is passionate about is the quality of the music. “If it’s good music – if it’s there or there abouts – there’s nothing wrong with that,” he says as his final thoughts on the matter, “as long as something is performed well and it’s authentic to itself – if it’s around that kind of genre – then play them at a country festival.” Cary respects the art of live performances and lists some great UK talents that he praises for doing this well in the genre, “Kezia [Gill], Jade [Helliwell], Preston D Barnes, Alan Finlan – some great singers who can really perform. I think the art of performing isn’t going by the wayside, but it’s something I’m passionate about I think maybe that’s where the US have it on us just a little bit.”
Cary hosts a weekly radio show for CHAOS radio where he plays the latest and greatest in country music. CHAOS (Community Helping All Of Society) is a charity organisation and Cary does the roll as a volunteer.
He curates the playlists each week, trying to select a diverse range of artists from up and comers to old-time legends. For him, he looks for authenticity, “if they’re passionate and they’re putting themselves out there and they want to well then I will absolutely play them until the cows come home and support them 100%”. He wants voices that can perform well and interact with the audience as well as sound good on a track so for new artists, he’ll try and see them live first or at least research their live videos.
I talk about Viv Groskop’s book, ‘Lift As You Climb’, and the importance of making space for others while you’re climbing the ladder. Groskop’s book is aimed at the female workspace, but the underlying message is applicable to all and that’s something that Cary is passionate about with his radio show, looking for those ‘diamonds in the rough’.
We segway into psychologist, Jordan Peterson – not to be confused with Kevin Pieterson as I so confidently announced, ‘oh, the cricketer?’
“He said something along the lines of we've all got the choice to get up the ladder,” he says about the quote he remembers, “by either stepping on people's shoulders, or by having them put two hands under our feet and help us.” A message that we both agree is prevalent in all aspects of life – you can either trample over people or work together in whatever you’re doing.
At this point, the lighting in Cary’s studio changes to a moody blue and he can’t quite figure out how to get them back. He encourages me to carry on – why is that when someone tells you to keep talking, you cannot think of a single coherent sentence? I joke and tell him that perhaps he’ll just have to stay blue. “Stay Blue!” we both chime, “there’s a song title.” With settings back to normal, we pause while he writes it down and continue with the interview.
Cary had us all fooled when he took to his social media to announce that he was supporting the Glastonbury headliner. The date – 1st April – and the ambiguity of which headliner should have raised eyebrows amongst his followers but Cary has such a loyal, supportive fanbase that the prank kind of backfired. “I had to message so many people privately,” he says about the damage control that came after his whole community believed his post, “it got at least 500 likes or reactions and over 200 comments across various platforms”. So no, Tom Cary isn’t supporting the Glastonbury headliner this year, but his fans certainly think he’s got what it takes!
On a career moment he will never forget:
Singing with Michael Bublé at the NEC. That was pretty special.
I went to see him live and I had a couple of wines before going in to see him and thought, ‘ah, I’ll write on a piece of paper and say can I sing with you’ because I was only two rows from the front but off to the side and yeah – there was loads of people probably 100 people holding signs saying things like that.
As soon as he walked out on stage, it was very odd he was singing ‘Just Haven’t Met You Yet’, and as he walked across the stage - I remember it clear as day - he walked across the stage and went, ‘just haven’t met you yet’ and kind of pointed straight at me and kind of winked. But it was, like, a pregnant pause and I was like, that was meant for me, this is going to be special and everyone around me kind of went hmmm.
And then when he sat down on the middle of the stage – I don’t think anyone can imagine the adrenaline rush. (Cary disappears off camera to retrieve a framed photo of him and Bublé singing together that night. He’s been captured in full flow, looking like he completely belongs on that stage, as if the whole thing had been planned all along.)
So yeah, he just sat down on the stage, and I remember what he said because I knew what was coming and everything was heightened. He said, ‘I love my job and I’m lucky I get to do what I do and I like to give people who wouldn’t otherwise have the opportunity to stand on a stage such as this the opportunity to do so’. And he turned to the side and looked at me and I was like fuck! The screams were unbelievable, it was crazy. There was a line of sight between me and him but because I was at an angle it was through loads of rows people if that makes sense. Even though I was only a few rows from the front, I was at an angle so had to go through a lot of people it was like something biblical, and everyone just went (he makes a parting motion with his hands).
On a career moment he wishes he could forget:
I used to busk quite a lot – I think every musician needs to busk at some point and spend a good amount of time busking and busk in various places. If you can please someone enough as they’re walking past to put their hand in their pocket and put money in your case then that’s a really good lesson…and then do that for four hours constantly (he laughs). It’s a good lesson for musicians to do.
I was busking in Truro in my hometown in Cornwall, and I’d only just arrived at this spot under the subway by M&S. There are no rules with busking in Truro but generally the consensus is if you’re there and someone wants the spot then you give it an hour and then you move on to the next spot. I’d arrived at this spot and there’s this guy called Scarface with his bulldog with his muzzle on. He just said, ‘this is my spot’.
I’d seen him around loads, and we usually respected each other and he wasn’t someone you even really wanted to be around - he was a homeless guy and there are lovely homeless guys around Truro and I have a lot of respect for them. And he was like, ‘oh this is my spot get gone’ and I was like, ‘no, I’ve only just got here I’m going to be another hour’, and he said – and he came up to my face very casually, there was no one around, it was like it didn’t mean anything to him. He just turned around and said, ‘either you give me this spot, or I’m going to take the muzzle of my dog’. And I was like, wow. Didn’t expect that. I was like OK, pick your battles Tom. And it was this massive bulldog. It was just one of those moments where I was like what am I doing with my life? Am I going to be killed in some subway by a homeless man’s bulldog?
On the advice he’d pass on:
Find what makes your soul happy.
I’m not squirming out of the answer by the way – I think this answer changes as you grow in life – but for me, I’d be inclined to say, it sounds cheesy and I don’t mean it to sound cheesy at all. It’s actually quite raw but (there’s a long pause as he pulls his thoughts together) find out what makes your soul happy and give it every single inch of you that you have, and don’t let anyone or anything stop you. You get different people in life: you get sheep, you get wolves, you get shepherds. That’s my kind of analogy of it. I think everyone in those segments need to be there to make society work. There needs to be, unfortunately, wolves – but a very very small amount. There needs to be sheep -otherwise society would not function, and there needs to be shepherds to keep society in a place of equilibrium and balance, or homeostasis if you want to put it that way. I think that whatever you fall into, you can’t fake being in one of those positions and if you do, I don’t think it’s going to last very long. If you’re meant to be a shepherd and you’re doing a sheep’s job, it’s not going to make your soul happy.
Finding your passion in life and what makes your soul happy – and it’s the old saying isn’t it, ‘if you do what you love then you’ll never work a day in your life’.
With his Country Across the Country tour this summer, plus the thousands of miles he’ll be cycling, Cary hasn’t got much planned in the way of festivals or gigs, but you can catch him over June somewhere near you at one of his charity gigs throughout his cycle!
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