Born Mark Hewerdine[2] grew up in North London,[1] before moving to Cambridge while still a child, and as a teenager formed the short-lived band Placebo Thing with a friend.

[5] In 1985 Hewerdine, working once again in a record shop in Cambridge (The Beat Goes On), formed The Bible with jazz drummer Tony Shepherd, later recruiting former Great Divide bandmate Kevin Flanagan.

[4] Invited by Tori Amos to play support promoting these songs, Hewerdine managed to find a new audience and Ignorance and a single from the album, "History", did relatively well commercially.

As Hewerdine's star rose, he started to write for other artists, among them Eddi Reader, Clive Gregson and Christine Collister.

[1][5][8][15] Thanksgiving followed in 1999, which featured a guest appearance from Martha Wainwright and was described by Allmusic writer Rick Anderson as "sometimes very pretty in a Beatlesque way and sometimes moving", and Anon in 2002.

[26] Hewerdine first performed with Cambridge-based American guitarist Brooks Williams in 2010 after adding him to the bill of his annual Christmas show in his home town of Ely at the last minute when guests Chris Difford and Barry McGuigan were unable to attend due to weather conditions.

[27][29] They followed the album with the EP Rent, the title track of which (a cover version of the Pet Shop Boys' song) was performed on The Andrew Marr Show in December 2012.

Hewerdine was invited by Nick Hornby to write music for the soundtrack of the 1997 film adaptation of his book Fever Pitch.

[31] With Neill MacColl he also wrote music for the soundtrack of Shane Meadows' Twenty Four Seven and David Evans' television film Our Boy, both also from 1997.

Hewerdine's song "Bell, Book and Candle" (from Thanksgiving) has been used in several television dramas, including an award-winning death scene in Emmerdale.

Lang ("Last Cigarette"),[31] Paul Young, Melanie C, Marti Pellow, David McAlmont, Brian Kennedy, Kris Drever, Sarah Jane Morris, Alex Parks, and Natalie Imbruglia.