Rai Thistlethwayte at Bird's Basement Jazz Club

About

Rai is one of Australia's most respected musical talents: a highly accomplished pianist, guitarist, vocalist and songwriter. As a songwriter, he has been nominated for APRA Song of The Year. His band, Thirsty Merc, has sold over 250,000 albums in Australia and has been nominated for 5 ARIA awards. Since 2002, Thirsty Merc has released 4 studio albums and a string of hits in the Australian Music Charts.

Aside from his work in Rock and Pop, Rai performs as a solo artist, based on his love of Jazz, Soul, and Groove music.

In 2020, Rai joined guitar virtuoso Joe Satriani's touring band as a keyboardist, played on 13 tracks on Joe's new album 'The Elephants Of Mars,' and completed 45 shows across the USA in 2022, and over 50 shows in Europe in early 2023.