Thomas Dale Rapp (March 8, 1947 – February 11, 2018) was an American singer and songwriter who led Pearls Before Swine, an influential[1] psychedelic folk rock group of the late 1960s and early 1970s.

He began writing songs,[4] and (according to a local newspaper cutting kept by his mother) once came third in a talent contest in Rochester when he was aged eight,[5] where Bobby Zimmerman, probably the boy who was later known as Bob Dylan, came in fifth.

[9] In Florida, Rapp became a fan of Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Woody Guthrie and Bessie Smith,[7] and formed Pearls Before Swine in 1965 with high school friends Wayne Harley, Roger Crissinger, and Lane Lederer.

The label agreed to record the band's first album, One Nation Underground, predominantly consisting of Rapp's own songs and produced in New York by Richard Alderson.

[8] He toured with Buddy Guy, Gordon Lightfoot, Chuck Berry and Bob Dylan, but turned down the opportunity to appear at the Woodstock festival.

[4][1] He described his legal work as an extension of his politically-attuned music,[2] his areas of expertise including judicial estoppel and finding constitutional grounds upon which to challenge corporate actions.

[15] Rapp was married three times: firstly to Elisabeth Joosten (who sang on some of his recordings) from 1968 to 1976;[9] secondly, to Susan Hein; and, from 1995, Lynn Madison.

[8][9] † Tom Rapp appeared on the 1999 Neil Young 2CD tribute This Note's for You Too, on Inbetweens Records, with the song "After the Gold Rush".

† Tom Rapp contributed vocals to the song "Shadows" for the band Old Fire on their album, 'Songs From the Haunted South',[16] released in 2016 by Kscope Records.