Tom is a musician, broadcaster and writer, raised in St. John's, Newfoundland. As a broadcaster, he started out programming folk music on college radio, quickly moving on to work at the local private radio level as a news reporter/reader. Three years ago, he joined CBC as host of Deep Roots as well as regularly guest-hosting CBC Radio 2 Drive and CBC Radio 2 Morning.

As a musician, Tom is in high demand as an instrumentalist/vocalist and has shared the stage with such diverse artists as accordion virtuoso Graham Wells, jazz guitarist Duane Andrews and bluegrass innovator Bill Keith. In addition to his breadth of work as a sideman, he also leads his own band, The Dardanelles, who have received a number of accolades both provincially and nationally.