Thomas Tree

Thomas Tree Murray (born February 22, 1962) is an American songwriter, producer, singer and entrepreneur.

He is best known as a founding member and lead vocalist of the alternative rock band Christy McCool.

Murray is also the co-founder of Serendipity Pie, a music production and sound design team that he co-founded with longtime songwriting partner, Cory Joseph Coppage.

Serendipity Pie has produced over 100 original songs to date.

While studying Mass Media at the University of Colorado, Boulder in 1981, Murray began a songwriting collaboration with guitarist Cory Joseph Coppage.

The partnership continues to this day and has produced 108 original songs, including "How Does She Do It So Quickly" from the soundtrack of the Academy-Award nominated film "Short Cuts", directed by Robert Altman.

Robert Reed Altman, the son of "Short Cuts" director Robert Altman directed the video for the song, which also starred Altman's son Bobby, and Murray's wife, Jade.

Murray and Coppage were founding members of several projects during Murray's college days, including The Mile Highs and The Trees.

The Trees were regulars at the Blue Note, a Boulder nightclub where they performed with the likes of Hüsker Dü, Mau Mau 55, Firehose, Aviators, Buddy Rich.

When Murray and Coppage moved their partnership to Hollywood in 1986, they renamed the project Bodhitrees.

In addition to Murray and Coppage, Bodhitrees included Ronnie Nelson (Bass) James "Fabe" Fabery (Guitar) Michael King (Bass) Alexander Christopher (Guitar) and drummer Ron Rosing (formerly of Billy Corgan's first band "The Marked").

Katie was released on Lost Arts records in 1987, and published under TMM Publishing and CJC Publishing.

Murray (Tectonic Phlegm Publishing) has been a member of ASCAP since 1988.

Katie is a full-length album recorded by Murray and Coppage at Faith Tape Ministries in Denver, Colorado, and it was the first album by the duo under the name Bodhitrees.

A Los Angeles Times review of the album described the duo’s sound as “a bizarre blend of folk, electro-experimentation, Brit-pop, rap, Monty Python accents, Falco smartness, Donovan rock and music hall silliness” and “a whimsical, strangely disturbing oddity." The album was successful on American college radio stations and reached #2 on the independent Los Angeles radio station, KXLU.

The album was engineered and mixed by Michael Pfeiffer.

Pfeiffer would go on to work with Murray and Coppage on several other studio albums.

In September 1988, Tree formed the alternative-rock band Christy McCool with Neil McAnally, Kat Robinson and Terrence Lee Henry.

All members of the band were tenants of the same apartment building in Hollywood, CA. At this time, another tenant in the building took a dangerous amount of prescription medication and lit her bed, and room, on fire.

Tree, who was also manager of the building, was forced to evict the tenant, but the group decided to name their newly formed band after her.

Christy McCool's first L.A. performance was at Gazzarri's Music Hall (now The Key Club) on the Sunset Strip.

In late 1989, the band released their debut album "Lovelier than the Queen of England" and toured the Western and Southern U.S., as well as parts of Europe.

During this time, they also performed with, or were on compilation recordings with bands like X, L7, GWAR, Pigmy Love Circus, Faith No More, 45 Grave, Stan Red Fox, Swamp Zombies, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Fishbone among others.

In 1990, Christy McCool was included on Tantrum, a compilation album, for their cover of The Doors' song “Peace Frog”.

Tantrum was released under Cocktail Records, with Decca Records providing distribution, and featured other up-and-coming Los Angeles-based bands including Haunted Garage, Pigmy Love Circus, Celebrity Skin, and Green Jellÿ.

In 1991, Intercord Records released a compilation CD entitled “Funky Metal” which included the song “Mo Fo” by Christy McCool, as well as songs by other alternative acts including Faith No More, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Fishbone.

Christy McCool’s final line-up was made up of Tree on vocals, Neil McAnally on bass, Jason D on guitar and Tom Wenzel on drums.

Calling Colleen is a full-length LP written by Murray and Coppage.

The album is a blend of pop and alternative-rock, with lyrical themes that both celebrated and satirized the everyday lives of working-class Americans.

Calling Colleen was recorded at Faith Tape Ministries in Denver, Colorado and was engineered by Michael Pfeiffer.

It was originally released on Everything OK Records on August 23, 1993, and published under TMM Publishing and CJC Publishing.

Calling Colleen was re-released on September 30, 2022.

Tree and his wife, Jade Vaccarelli, have resided in Malibu, California, since 1994.

Thomas Tree Murray was born Thomas McDonnell Sebastian Tree Murray to Colleen McDonnell and Paul V Murray in Denver, Colorado.

In 2001, Tree partnered with Mazen Daouk and Sound Engineer / Co-Producer and Professor of Sound Design at the University of South Carolina, Walter Clissen to form the experimental electronic-music project, Subsonic Sonar.

Murray was also hired by Rolling Stones producer Don Was to film the first 360-video with 'birds-eye' technology of a Rolling Stones concert at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on March 4, 2006.

After a decade of development, they released “Emerald Green Vortex” in 2011.

The album is a mix of Trip hop and electronic ambience and opera that they refer to as "Triphopera".

The operatic vocals by Van Oosterwijk were recorded at Studio Excelsior in the Netherlands, while Tree, Daouk and Clissen recorded the music at Studio Zen in Venice, California.

Poetry and lyrics were written and performed by Jade Vaccarelli and Thomas Tree.