James Yorkston

Many of them are versions of songs recorded by singers in the 1960s British folk revival, such as Nic Jones, Anne Briggs and Shirley Collins.

James Yorkston (born James Patrick Yorkston Wright; 21 December 1971) is a Scottish folk musician, singer-songwriter and author from the village of Kingsbarns, Fife.

He has been releasing music since 2001.

As well as recording as a solo artist, he has released music with his backing band the Athletes, as part of the Fence Collective, and as a member of the trio Yorkston/Thorne/Khan.

He has also written fiction and non-fiction books.

A native of Fife, James Yorkston was an integral early member of the Fence Collective, a collaborative group of musicians including King Creosote, The Aliens, KT Tunstall, The Beta Band and The Pictish Trail.

Yorkston is primarily a singer-songwriter, although he also tackles a variety of traditional songs, learned from singers such as Anne Briggs, Dick Gaughan, Nic Jones, Martin Carthy, Lal Waterson, John Strachan and Adrian Crowley.

His quoted main influences are Anne Briggs, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Michael Hurley, Can and the Malagasy D'Gary.

Yorkston started out as bassist for punk band Miraclehead, which morphed into the band Huckleberry, who recorded a number of independently released records.

Yorkston's solo career began when John Peel played a demo of his "Moving Up Country, Roaring the Gospel", proclaiming it had the best song title of the year.

This led to Bad Jazz Records releasing that track as Yorkston's debut 7" under the name "J.

Wright Presents".

By this time Yorkston had started to play solo gigs in Edinburgh, his debut supporting Bert Jansch in the Café Royal.

Seeking more shows, Yorkston sent a copy of the single to John Martyn, asking him for a support slot on his forthcoming Edinburgh date, and Martyn responded by offering Yorkston all 31 dates on his tour.

Subsequently, he signed to Domino Records, recording music with a number of friends and associates credited as The Athletes.

His debut album Moving Up Country, co-produced by Simon Raymonde of the Cocteau Twins, became Rough Trade Record Shops Album of the Year for 2002.

In 2003 Yorkston played at the inaugural Green Man Festival.

For Yorkston's second album, he asked Kieran Hebden of Four Tet on board as producer, and they made Just Beyond the River.

Released on vinyl, CD and as a limited edition 2-CD set with the otherwise unavailable EP Fearsome Fairytale Lovers, the album was well received by the music press.

Pete Paphides of The Times wrote, "Yorkston has reached a state of grace that writers can spend forever trying to attain: songs that sound not so much written as carefully retrieved from your own subconscious, played with an intuition bordering on telepathy. What more could you ask for?"

while Pitchfork said, "Yorkston's record creates a bucolic, timeless world where magic remains a recent memory."

Yorkston's fan base continued to grow and he was offered tours with Beth Orton, David Gray, Tindersticks, Turin Brakes, Lambchop and Kathryn Williams, as well as a slot on the Accelerator tour of Sweden.

The follow-up, The Year of the Leopard (2006), was produced by Rustin Man, who had recently worked with Beth Gibbons (lead singer with the band Portishead) on their Out of Season record.

The album was again well received by the press.

Drowned in Sound said, "Yorkston’s voice is red-wine warm and perfectly at ease with itself, filling each track to the brim with understated honesty", while Alexis Petridis, writing in The Guardian, said, "this is music that slowly charms rather than immediately stuns you, taking time to work its way under your skin. Once there, however, its lovely, understated melodies, autumnal arrangements and warm, wry lyrics...are virtually impossible to shift."

Later the same year, Yorkston was given the chance to play with Bert Jansch once more, this time in Paris.

Yorkston also invited Martin Carthy to play and share a stage with him at London's Union Chapel on 24 May 2007.

Also in 2007, Domino Records released Roaring the Gospel, a collection of EP tracks, overseas releases and new songs, which led the NME to observe that "Yorkston has talent as deep as a mine shaft", while the BBC website said, "Yorkston and his Athletes bathe their songs with warmth, allowing them to nestle snugly in a lush bed of tenderly plucked acoustic guitars, sighing woodwind and gently wheezing accordion."

In October 2007, Yorkston was invited to work as Musical Director with Oliver Knight and the Waterson–Carthy clan for the BBC Electric Proms tribute to Lal Waterson.

This was broadcast on BBC Radio 2 by the Mike Harding Show as well as being filmed.

Alongside Waterson–Carthy, the acts involved included Alasdair Roberts, Kathryn Williams and Lisa Knapp.

Yorkston's involvement with the Fence Collective continued: he has toured extensively with King Creosote and regularly contributed to the Fence Collective's Homegame mini-festivals featuring guest performances by artists such as The Concretes and Hot Chip.

Yorkston also plays in the Fence Collective bands The 3 Craws, Pictish Trail and U.N.P.O.C.

Yorkston's fifth album, When the Haar Rolls In, was released through Domino Records on 1 September 2008.

Guests included Norma Waterson, Mike Waterson, Marry Waterson and Oliver Knight.

A special edition was released featuring an album of remixes and an album of James Yorkston covers by artists such as King Creosote, U.N.P.O.C. and Cathal Coughlan.

Among the positive reviews, the website PopMatters called the album, "one of the most consistently compelling and beautiful records to be released in quite a while."

In August 2009, Yorkston collaborated with the band the Big Eyes Family Players on the album Folk Songs.

As the title suggests, all of the tracks are traditional British and Irish folk songs (along with one from Galicia, Spain).

In 2012, the Big Eyes Family Players released a follow-up album entitled Folk Songs II on Static Caravan Recordings, featuring a variety of guest vocalists including Yorkston, Alasdair Roberts and Adrian Crowley.