A native of Fife, Yorkston was an integral early member of the Fence Collective whose reach across contemporary music continues to lengthen: King Creosote, The Aliens, KT Tunstall, The Beta Band. 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 & 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, who 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 Song title of the year, no doubt”. This led to Bad Jazz Records scrambling for James’ details and releasing that track as Yorkston’s debut 7” under the name 'J. Wright Presents'
At 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 John for a support slot on his forth coming Edinburgh date – and John Martyn responded by offering James all 27 dates on the UK & Irish tour. Whilst on this tour James was seen by Laurence Bell of Domino Records (Arctic Monkeys, Franz Ferdinand), who was so impressed he had a recording contract sent to James’ lawyer the following week. Subsequently he signed to Domino Records, recording music with a number of friends and associates credited as 'The Athletes' on his records. None of them, however, are actually athletes; indeed, the accordion player - the renowned Scottish musician Reuben Taylor - has been seen smoking a pipe. James recorded and produced his debut album for Domino – “Moving Up Country” which became Rough Trade Record Shops Album Of The Year for 2002. James also played at the inaugural Greenman Festival, to which he has been asked back every year since.
For Yorkston’s 2nd album, he asked Kieran Hebden (Four Tet) onboard as producer, and they made “Just Beyond The River”. This album was extremely well received all round, Pete Paphides of The Times wrote, “Yorkston has reached a state of grace that writers can spend for ever 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?” James’ fan base continued to grow and he was offered tours with Beth Orton (USA), David Gray (UK & Ireland), Tindersticks (Europe), Turin Brakes (USA), Lambchop (Europe), Kathryn Williams (UK) as well as a slot on the prestigious Accelerator tour of Sweden.
The follow up, ‘The Year Of The Leopard’ was produced by Rustin Man, who had recently worked with Beth Gibbons (lead singer with the band Portishead) on their ‘Out Of Season’ record. Whilst promoting this, Yorkston was given the chance to play with Bert Jansch once more, this time in Paris – a nice turn of events. James also invited Martin Carthy to play and share a stage with him last year when selling out London’s Union Chapel. 2007 saw Domino Records release a “Best Of The Rest” collection – unreleased songs from his career so far- ‘Roaring The Gospel’ which led the NME to say “Yorkston has talent as deep as a mine shaft”.
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 by the Mike Harding show, as well as by BBC3. Alongside Waterson Carthy, the acts involved included Alasdair Roberts, Kathryn Williams and Lisa Knapp. James’ involvement with the Fence Collective is also very much alive, he has toured extensively with King Creosote and contributes every year to the Fence Collective’s legendary Homegames – mini-festivals featuring guest performances by names such as The Concretes, Hot Chip & Super Shitbox. James also plays in the Fence Collective bands The 3 Craws, Pictish Trail & UNPOC.
His 5th album, When the Haar Rolls in was released through Domino Records on September 1st, 2008. Guests include Nancy Elizabeth Cunliffe, Norma Waterson & Mike Waterson. 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
Summer Song
James Yorkston Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
If I promise to settle down
With you forever by my side
Oh, will you keep the peace?
Oh, lord knows I have tried
Lord know I have tried
Words that I've heard
I live for your quite embrace
We have years yet left to waste
The more time we spend alone
The happier I am
I place my trust in fool lord will I never learn
Lord will I never learn
The summer it is near
It's time that we all left behind
Unlocked to say a word
And we'll do the best we can
We do the best we can
"Summer Song" is a deeply personal and introspective song from James Yorkston, a Scottish folk singer-songwriter. It talks about making a commitment to someone and asking for their support in return. The song starts with the singer promising to settle down with the addressee by his side, but acknowledges that he has tried and failed to keep the peace. He then describes how he lives for the addressee's kind words and quiet embrace, and how being with them makes him happy even if they waste their time together.
The second verse discusses how the more time they spend alone, the happier he is, and how he foolishly places his trust in something unnamed. The chorus repeats, talking about how summer is approaching and how they will do their best to get through it. Overall, the song is a vulnerable confession of someone who feels lost without someone they love and their support.
The song's meaning is open to interpretation since it's very personal and may mean different things to different people. However, one can sense longing, loneliness, and perhaps uncertainty about the future in it. The lyrics are poetic, and the singer's delivery is sincere, making it a beautiful and intimate song.
Line by Line Meaning
If I promise to settle down
If I make a commitment to stay with you
With you forever by my side
To be with you always
Oh, will you keep the peace?
Will you maintain a peaceful relationship with me?
Oh, lord knows I have tried
I have made efforts to improve our relationship
Lord know I have tried
I have done everything I possibly could
I live for your kind words there the [unverified]
Your words of kindness are what I live for
Words that I've heard
I value the words I have received from you so far
I live for your quite embrace
I long for your warm, peaceful embrace
We have years yet left to waste
We still have time to spend together
The more time we spend alone
I am happiest when we are alone together
The happier I am
My happiness increases
I place my trust in fool lord will I never learn
I often trust the wrong people, and I wonder if I will ever learn from my mistakes
Lord will I never learn
I am unsure if I will ever learn from my mistakes
The summer it is near
Summer is approaching
It's time that we all left behind
We should forget the past and move on
Unlocked to say a word
Free to speak our minds
And we'll do the best we can
We will try our hardest to make things work
Contributed by Keira G. Suggest a correction in the comments below.