James Yorkston’s Tae Sup wi’ a Fifer club began in 2015 when he was invited to curate a number of nights at the Adam Smith Theatre in Kirkcaldy. With a line-up that included the likes of Dick Gaughan, Karine Polwart, Richard Dawson and Lisa O’Neil it quickly established a reputation for offering a diverse evening of entertainment.
During the pandemic, it transformed into a series of online shows. Now, with live music back again, at last, Tae Sup returns – and takes to the road, as a series of tours of intimate venues around Scotland starring three varied and complementary talents from different avenues of folk, rock, indie and spoken word, all hosted by James.
Starting on Wednesday, February 2 at Eden Court in Inverness, before continuing around Scotland to Shetland, St Andrews and Peebles, the first tour will feature Kris Drever, Salena Godden and Rachel Sermanni (and James Yorkston). See below for full list of dates and venues. Two further tours will follow later in 2022, each starring a different group of artists. Tae Sup Wi’ A Fifer: On Tour is made possible thanks once again to the generosity of Creative Scotland.
“Tae Sup wi’ a Fifer has provided some memorable nights for me,” says James, “and I’m delighted to be finally able to bring the evening on tour. Choosing the artists is something I love to do, providing varied, unique evenings. This first line-up of the series contains some of my favourite artists, all Tae Sup veterans, all very special.”
Most of those names above will be familiar to regular readers of Folk Radio:
Scottish folk singer-songwriter Kris Drever has just won Album of the Year at the Scots Trad Music Awards for “Where The World Is Thin“.
Themes of memory, resilience, fragility, and longing filter through the album, ensuring a somewhat ephemeral and reflective recording. Drever’s voice and delivery is as idiosyncratic and rich as ever. His sincere Scottish brogue is never mannered, always effortlessly natural. Where The World Is Thin is a charming album. Confident and mature in its content, and beautifully performed. A fine treat as the nights draw in. Billy Rough, Folk Radio
Described as the “doyenne of the spoken word scene” by BBC Radio 3, Salena Godden writes and performs poetry, fiction, memoir, radio drama and lyrics. Her Gordon Burns Prize shortlisted debut novel Mrs Death Misses Death is published in paperback in January 2022. “Intoxicating and life-affirming” – The Bookseller.
Scottish folk-noir balladeer from Carrbridge in Strathspey, Rachel Sermanni‘s fourth album So It Turns was released in 2019.
A musically complex and nuanced work with emotions to match…its contemplative air marks Sermanni’s passage from a musician to an artist. Mike Davies, Folk Radio
And finally, the man himself: In early 2021 Domino Records released James’s new album The Wide, Wide River, a collaboration with Swedish ensemble The Second Hand Orchestra.
There is space all over this album – thinking space, breathing space – space to be interpreted by the musicians and also by listeners. It is a minimal aesthetic that owes something to the determined restraint of krautrock, but its effect here is inclusive and intriguing. That combination of closeness and mystery – a thread that runs through all of his records – is one of the reasons Yorkston is amongst the very best songwriters of his generation; The Wide, Wide River is yet another career highlight. Thomas Blake, Folk Radio
James was an integral member of the much-lauded and hugely influential Fence Collective (King Creosote, Pictish Trail, KT Tunstall, Beta Band). He has released a host of critically acclaimed albums both as a solo artist and as part of the project Yorkston Thorne Khan.
TICKETS ON SALE NOW
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 2 @ EDEN COURT, INVERNESS [TICKETS]
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 3 @ MAREEL, SHETLAND [TICKETS]
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 4 @ THE BYRE THEATRE, ST ANDREWS [TICKETS]
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 5 @ EASTGATE ARTS, PEEBLES [TICKETS]