Working closely with composer Larry Goves, he is a founder member of the brilliantly bonkers group the house of bedlam, and a member of the Tango 5 quintet dedicated to the authentic performance of the music of Astor Piazzolla.

Tom has played with the BBC Philharmonic, BBC Scottish Symphony, Halle, Britten Sinfonia, City of London Sinfonia, Northern Sinfonia, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and Scottish Chamber Orchestras in repertoire ranging from Bernstein to Boulez, under many great conductors such as Martyn Brabbins, Andrew Davis, Mark Elder, Oliver Knussen, Gianandrea Noseda and Ilan Volkov. He has also performed at the BBC Proms, in a guitar quartet alongside Craig Ogden, Gary Ryan and Amanda Cook, with Scottish Ballet at the Edinburgh Festival, violinist David Juritz and the London Tango Quintet, and in arrangements of music by the Penguin Cafe Orchestra for Birmingham Royal Ballet. He also once taught a naked actress how to play a Fisher Price toy guitar whilst sitting in a bath for a short BBC 2 film directed by Danny Boyle, a career highlight which he will never surpass.

In February 2012 BBC Radio 3 broadcast 'Inspired by Birds', a Saturday feature written and presented by Tom which investigated the influence of birds on music and which was selected for Pick of the Week on Radio 4 and in every broadsheet paper. Tom also presents Radio 3's 'Live in Concert' from the north of England and the Midlands, broadcasting from major events such as the opening night of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad, BBC Piano Season and the Baroque Spring Season.

Tom lives in the Peak District with his wife Sarah and daughter Nancy. He plays a 1999 Paul Fischer and a Gibson SG. He enjoys spending time in Ladbrokes and writing biographical entries about himself in a third-person voice.