| Name |
Rai Thistlethwayte |
| Height |
|
| Naionality |
Australian |
| Date of Birth |
19-April-1980 |
| Place of Birth |
Sydney |
| Famous for |
Singing |
Rai Thistlethwayte is a rock, pop and jazz musician and songwriter. Rai is an accomplished pianist, guitarist, and vocalist. He is the lead singer and primary songwriter in the Australian pop rock band Thirsty Merc. Since 2004, Thirsty Merc have released a string of hits in the Australian Music Charts including "Wasting Time," "My Completeness", "Someday, Someday", "In The Summertime", "When The Weather Is Fine", "20 Good Reasons", "The Hard Way", "Those Eyes", "Homesick", "Mousetrap Heart", "Tommy And Krista" and "All My Life". He is currently based in Los Angeles.
In his early teens, Rai listened to classic rock and early metal, then blues and jazz. He started writing songs around the age of 15. After finishing high school in 1997 he was awarded a scholarship to the Sydney Conservatorium of Music where he commenced a Bachelor of Music in jazz piano in 1998.
Some of his early musical influences are listed as The Beach Boys, Buddy Holly, Deep Purple, Cream, Jimi Hendrix, Iron Maiden, Stevie Wonder, Donny Hathaway, Prince, Frank Sinatra, Joni Mitchell, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Chick Corea, Keith Jarrett, Oscar Peterson, Claude Debussy.
After a year at the Sydney Conservatorium, Rai came to the attention of, and signed with Columbia/Sony in the USA. This particular label relationship appeared not to have flourished and ended amicably.
In 2002 Rai formed Australian rock group Thirsty Merc and was subsequently signed by Warner Music Australia after their self funded release of their EP First Work. Thirsty Merc subsequently released three successful albums, their self-titled debut Thirsty Merc, which sold 2 x platinum in Australia and received 4 ARIA Award nominations, and Sideshows that has reached Platinum status. Thirsty Merc released their third studio album in June 2010 Mousetrap Heart with the title track as the first single, and the hit 'Tommy And Krista' and 'All My Life' being released as singles. Rai and the band’s live performances are known for their high energy and strong musicianship. The 'Mousetrap Heart' era led the band to numerous tours, the largest being an extensive, multi city and regional tour of Australia and New Zealand. This tour was called the 'Rock Your Socks Off Tour' and ended in mid November 2011.
