Waterford plays host to James Yorkston gig

An acclaimed musician, described as the ‘finest songwriter of his generation’ by the late radio presenter and journalist John Pell, will be performing in Waterford this May.

With a new album due for release, James Yorkston will be playing new songs at Subterranean Sounds in Phil Grimes Pub, as well as digging into material from his solo albums and those with Yorkston Thorne Khan, Nina Persson and The Second Hand Orchestra.

Growing up in the village of Kingsbarns, in Fife, Scotland, James has been releasing a series of much acclaimed albums on Domino Records since 2002.

His debut album ‘Moving Up Country’ was Rough Trade Album of the Year.

James’ break came a year previously, after he sent a demo cassette to folk-rock legend John Martyn asking for a support slot on the Edinburgh date of John’s upcoming tour, only for John to hear the cassette and offer James all 31 dates of the tour.

James was an integral original member of the much lauded and hugely influential Fence Collective and his style shows a mastery of folk traditions, often drawing on traditional songs, which has seen him collaborate with such heritage artists as the Waterson family, Martin Carthy and the late Bert Jansch, whilst producing his own albums alongside contemporary artists such as Four Tet, Rustin Man, David Wrench and Alexis Taylor (Hot Chip).

In 2011, his debut book, ’It’s Lovely to be Here – The Touring Diaries of a Scottish Gent’, was published to great response by The Domino Press / Faber, and in 2016 Freight Press published James’ debut novel, '3 Craws’

Yorkston plays Phil Grimes Pub Friday, May 16.

Tickets are available now from from Eventbrite.ie.