James Yorkston and the Athletes are -
james yorkston - guitar/banjo/etc -
doogie paul - double bass/etc -
faisal rahman - percussion/etc -
reuben taylor - accordion/concertina/etc -
with -
Emma Smith - fiddle -
Sarah Scutt - Clarinet -
Nancy Elizabeth - Harp -
and -
jon bews - fiddle -
wendy chan - vocals & fiddle -
holly taylor - low whistle & small pipes -
Influences
.. Linton Kwesi Johnson - Tings an' Times
.. Michael Hurley - Sweetkorn
.. Jacques Brel - Brel
.. Leo Ferre - Le Temps De Roses Rouges
.. Anne Briggs - Classic
.. D'Gary - Mbo Loza
.. Can - Tago Mago
.. Lal Waterson & Oliver Knight - Once In A Blue Moon
.. Nic Jones - Penguin Eggs
.. John Strachan - Songs From Aberdeenshire
guitar player/singer from the east neuk of fife, signed to domino records. also playing with the fence collective and unpoc.
in bands for years, gave up, wrote some songs at home, sent a copy to John Peel, he played one (moving up country, roaring the gospel), got a phone call from a wee label called bad jazz, who'd heard peel play it, they released it on 7", sent a copy to local promoter asking for local john martyn support, got told to sling my hook, sent a copy to john martyn, got offered the entire tour, got involved with a budding young record label in london, didn't work out due to lack of funds, bumped into head of domino records at a show in edinburgh, drank until 4am playing gram parsons tunes, swapped email addresses, he sent me everydominoreleaseever, i felt guilty and sent him one cd full of FENCE artists - kingcreosote/ lonepigeon/ pipdylan/ unpoc/ billypilgrim/ jamesyorkston, got offered a contract by domino, signed said contract, released 3 'official' albums, moving up country (2002) & just beyond the river (2004), 'The Year Of The Leopard' (2006) on Domino Records, plus a few other things on Fence Records.
still releasing music on other labels, especially www.fencerecords.com & www.houstonpartyrecords.com
In 2007 Domino Records released 'Roaring The Gospel' - a compilation of Fence / b-sides / eps, etc.
In September 2008, Domino released James' album - When The Haar Rolls In
In August 2009, Domino will release 'Folk Songs' by James Yorkston & The Big Eyes Family Players
Thanks for coming through to Edinburgh once again, and also for bringing the wonderful Mary Hampton in on the act. I’m glad ‘When the haar rolls in’ wasn’t interrupted by any squeaky doors this time! You should send that wobbly tape recording in to Late Junction, though – I’m sure the presenters will regard it as a fine folk/musique concrete crossover piece.
Best of luck with the rest of the tour, and come back and visit us in Edinburgh again soon …
JAMES YORKSTON & THE BIG EYES FAMILY PLAYERS with MARY HAMPTON and DAVID A JAYCOCK
JAMES YORKSTON, resident of the East Neuk of Fife and core member of musical family The Fence Collective, for a special night of folk music in the company of The Big Eyes Family Players.
James plays in support of his new album Folk Songs - released on Domino in August, which features traditional songs from the length and breadth of Great Britain & Ireland and one tune from Galicia in Spain. After a decade which has seen folk music morph into nu-folk, mobile phone-ad folk, mortgage-folk, smoothie-folk and so on, Yorkston has reached back into the tradition of song and place and drawn a line in the sand.
james, new tunes sound great especially the tides is flowing. really hits home with us. and a mention of john strachan too. all the best from aberdeenshire andy
Aye aye! Friday Sep 25th: Mystery Juice, Sara and the Snakes and the Wee Baby Jesuses play a late nite special at Henry's Cellar Bar, Morrison St, Edinburgh. Doors at 11, 5 quid entry. Gonny come and Rock'n'Roll?
heya James, just wanted to say it was awesome being a part of the album, thank youuuuuu for the songs they were beautiful to work on and thank you for letting me be a part of it, it was a spine tingly experience :D Only, every time I listen to the album I hear another mistake I made....hehe, James G assures me it adds character though so its all good ;)
Hello JY fans! I'm on the hunt for Martinmas Time sleeves - if you received one of the following copies, I would greatly appreciate it, if you got in touch with me. Maybe we could find a trade or I could buy it from you? The ones I'm looking for can be seen at the following times in the JY video on youtube:
