Fife, Scotland – a modern day British musical equivalent to Laurel Canyon and home to the best and most innovative folk music of the last forty years. It is Fife where the Fence Collective dwell, a musical collective featuring many notable names including The Aliens, Kenny Anderson (Aka King Creosote) and even K.T. Tunstall. Coming from Fence Records – Kenny Anderson’s own label – the Fence Collective were established as early back as 1999 and over the last decade have steadily been picking up plenty of critical attention.
Despite Tunstall’s obvious mainstream success, there seems little doubt that the most impressive thing to come out of Fife (since golf) is James Yorkston – one of the most refreshingly brilliant musicians of this century. “I wanted to be a musician for as long as I could remember” says Yorkston. “Certainly since the age of 6, but my inability to read music or play flashy riffs, or to be able to sing particularly well, led me to believe there wasn't much chance. So I hung out in other people's bands for a while, playing bass, the instrument for non-musicians, nine times out of ten.” Despite his early lack of belief, following a stint playing with local band Huckleberry, Yorkston soon began making rough demo recordings, one of which – Moving Up Country, Roaring The Gospel – found its way into the hands of legendary DJ John Peel after which everything began to fit into place for the gifted Yorkston.
2001 saw him signed to Bad Jazz records to release an official version of Moving Up Country, but soon he would be snapped up by the hugely popular independent label Domino, though not before he supported John Martyn on his UK and Irish tour. Through Domino Yorkston could begin work on a debut full-length record; the only problem was that he’d need people to play on it. Enter The Athletes - a collection of musicians mostly comprising of members of Anderson’s Fence Collective – strung together to help work on the album which was produced by Anderson himself. “The Fence Collective started coming into my consciousness I guess in around 1999 or so, when I'd go back through to Fife and play these wee wine bar gigs with Kenny & co.” remembers Yorkston, “It was unrehearsed and great fun! A real eye opener after many years of grinding rehearsals and taking things extremely seriously.”
The result of these sessions, 2002’s Moving Up Country was, I believe, one of the finest debut albums of this century and a record anyone would have been proud of, soon proving that Yorkston was much more than a one hit wonder. The music has a fairly simplistic approach whilst still maintaining a powerful sound, which combines folk and bluegrass with hints of American country. The record moves steadily at its own pace, which is what perhaps gives each of Yorkston’s albums such a distinctive feel. The dry, sometimes traditionally influenced lyrics consistently give a glimpse of the depth of Yorkston’s talent with the pen. Musically too he soon rubbishes the early disbelief of his ability as he plays with no less than eight instruments, in addition to his vocal, arrangement and producing skills.
It was with Yorkston’s second album, 2004’s Just Beyond the River that he began to prove just how big a talent he was. The opening track is the wonderfully uplifting and beautifully delicate Heron – the first song I ever heard from James Yorkston – has the ability to sum up everything you need to know about the man in a single listen. Heron was just the beginning of another fantastic album which allowed Yorkston to win over the vast majority of the critics and help to establish Fife as a somewhat unlikely home to a thriving musical scene. Speaking of Fife, Yorkston plays down the influence it has on his lyrics but believes that plays a role in his music, “Not really Fife as such. I think the cold in Fife comes through in my music - perhaps I should move to Southern Spain. But I write a lot on the road in whirring train carriages and mouldy dressing rooms.” With the beauty of Yorkston’s lyrics it’s hard to imagine his words being written in mouldy dressing rooms, though speeding through the fields and hills of Britain gives far more understanding to how such traditionally-inspired tracks such as Edward came into creation.
As Yorkston’s musical career grew, so did his radiant critical appraisal and with 2006’s The Year of the Leopard and 2008’s When the Haar Rolls In we see Yorkston at his best. Dropping The Athletes and going at it mostly alone he shows his natural, seemingly effortless ability to comprise heartfelt and wondrous music, full of the highs and lows of the very hills seen from his train carriage windows – all without even raising the pitch of his vocal chords.
When the Haar Rolls In is, in particular, the most accomplished record created by the exceptional Yorkston so far; each of his timeless compositions stands out as unique definitive tracks and once more his ability to fuse traditional with modern folk leaves it sounding like no other. Glowing reviews greeted the release, as many believed that Yorkston was without doubt the best folkster this side of the 70s’. His ability to wrap compositions in such mystery and emotion is an incredibly rare one, and when asked what influences helped him to create such unique music, Yorkston replied “It tends to be someone or someplace which has had a bit of an emotional impact on me, one way or another. Most of my songs seem to be looking back at various times and places and describing how things were from my point of view.”
Yorkston’s most recent record – released last year and titled Folk Songs – saw a return to collaborations with a new accompanying group; The Big Eyes Family Players. Comprised completely of traditional songs, Yorkston’s passion for traditional folk is clear as once again with an almost feigned indifference to his vocals, the music intricately carries you between the past and present in a way that no other than he can do.
But what of the future? Well, James Yorkston has much more to offer, don’t worry about that; “Next year I'll have my next record out plus a book of my tour diaries. I'm really excited about them both. The album is written and demoed and the book is finished. I’m just planning how to get them both out now - though they'll both be on Domino, one way or another. Not sure at this stage how I'm going to record the album, but a few interesting names have been mentioned. We'll see.”
Those ‘interesting names’ will keep people guessing until something more solid is planned but we do know that talk of Fife’s Fence Collective have been thrown around for some time, to which Yorkston seemed unsurprised, “We support each other - both with encouragement career wise and when we're playing together. I guess there aren't that many musicians in Fife so we end up having little choice but to have each other in each other’s bands! It's a great source of strength though, having good friends nearby who are similarly selfish and blinkered in their career choice...” So we certainly have an idea as to who Yorkston will probably be working with on his upcoming record, but who does he really want to collaborate with? “I've thought about this a lot; because I'm at the stage where I could invite any one artist to play and record with and my label, Domino, would fund such a ludicrous idea at the drop of a hat - but that doesn't mean it'd be a worthwhile exercise. The musicians whose work I love - Linton Kwesi Johnson, D'Gary, Orchestra Baobab and Oumou Sangare – if I were to play with them I doubt I'd add much to their pot! And if they were to play on my stuff, well, I'm not sure that'd work either. I'd love to record with the Archie Bronson Outfit though and there's a chance that may happen...”
The story of James Yorkston and his accomplishments is long and certainly befitting a man with as much talent as he; there are few that I would recommend as highly as Yorkston. Having heard about his past and some clues for the future of Fife’s most refreshing talent, don’t forget to check out his back catalogue if you haven’t already; you are guaranteed a most satisfying journey that will always leave you coming back for more. There’s certainly no doubting his ability and thankfully there appears to be no stopping the Scot, at least not after some much deserved R&R; “I hope to be back playing shows for Christmas” he reveals, “but this year is almost a year off for me; I need it. I've ne'er felt more exhausted!”
