Songs in the Key of Fife

The Intertwining Stories of the Beta Band, King Creosote, KT Tunstall, James Yorkston and the Fence Collective

Vic Galloway

• Publisher: Birlinn
• Year: 2013
• Print ISBN:
  9781846972355
• eBook ISBN:
  9780857902313
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Music Biographies

A look at the careers of several acclaimed Scottish musicians from Fife, from their early days to the highs and lows of the music industry, to today.

The East Neuk of Fife, Scotland, may seem like an unusual place for a musical revolution, but as this firsthand account reveals, there is more to the sleepy fishing villages and rolling fields, and a small community of musicians has crept up on the world. From psychedelic troubadours the Beta Band to the  Billboard chart star KT Tunstall, acclaimed singer-songwriter James Yorkston, and the reigning monarch and lynchpin of the Fence Collective, King Creosote, this book plots the unique, intertwining tales of these Fifers from their schooldays to the present day. This story, full of personal anecdotes and exclusive interviews, provides an in-depth look at a unique collective of musicians who have experienced the extreme highs and the desperate lows of the music business and how a craggy outpost on the east coast of Scotland had a role in crafting talented artists.

Praise for Songs in the Key of Fife

"DJ turned author Galloway does a superb job of documenting the lives of these artists, misfits and "heads," not least because he is a Fife lad himself." — Mojo (UK)

"A remarkable insight into the pitfalls of the music industry . . . essential reading for any young musician in Scotland thinking about trying to make a go of it—not least for the rude awakening it may offer before their dreams are shattered. But it also shows how success can be achieved against seemingly insurmountable odds." — The Scotsman (UK)

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title page
• Copyright page
• Contents
• Introduction
• 1 Eggshell Miles
• 2 Dance o’er the Border
• 3 Champion Versions The Rise of the Beta Band
• 4 Moving Up Country
• 5 Eye to the Telescope The Early Life of KT Tunstall
• 6 Rocket DIY
• 7 Heroes to Zeroes
• 8 KC Rules OK
• 9 Astronomy for Dogs
• 10 Travelling Country Crops
• 11 Drastic Fantastic The Rise and Rise of KT Tunstall
• 12 Secret Sounds Johnny Lynch – The Pictish Trail
• 13 Just beyond the River
• 14 Boys Outside
• 15 Shouting at Wildlife The Fence Collective and Beyond
• 16 Home and Away The Fence Ethos
• 17 Diamond Mine The Future for our Fifers
• Afterword
• Acknowledgements
• A Note on the Author
• List of Illustrations