KT has her mind on Hebcelt and new album
KT Tunstall knew her career was taking off after she approached the mic in a Los Angeles karaoke bar. “I was looking for ‘Faith’ by George Michael and they didn’t have it. But they did have ‘Black Horse and The Cherry Tree’. So, I sang that instead. Ha!”
The song already had a special place in her heart, having helped launch her into public awareness with a performance on ‘Later..With Jools Holland’ and went on to win her a Grammy nomination. It was also the lead song on her debut album ‘Eye to the Telescope’ which sold more than five million copies.
In the 15 years since that debut release, KT has become one of the UK’s most enduring singer songwriters, collecting a host of awards and selling millions of copies of songs including ‘Suddenly I See’ and ‘Other Side of the World’.
Now based in California, to where she re-located in 2012, she will headline the internationally-renowned Hebridean Celtic Festival during a tour which followed the release last year of her sixth album ‘WAX'.
“I just absolutely love this part of the world. You can travel all over the globe and there’s nothing like the Scottish isles”, she said. “Even the journey getting to Stornoway is a total adventure.
“I remember last time I played HebCelt I was gifted a beautiful custom-made Harris Tweed jacket - it was great to wear something truly Scottish for the occasion. And then of course there’s the crowd, and being Scottish myself there’s such a great feeling of coming home and singing our lungs out together along with a beer or four.”
It's eight years since her last appearance at HebCelt and much has changed for her personally and professionally since then, including a divorce and the loss of her father.
“Life happens to all of us, and it has certainly been changing things up for me. I feel like after my dad died and my marriage broke up, I started the second chapter of my life.
“I moved continents to California and worked a lot on sorting out why, even though I had everything I thought I wanted, I had still ended up so unhappy. The answer came down to how I felt about myself, nothing to do with music or success or relationships with other people.
“After working hard on that and getting to a place now where I love who I am and feel so grateful for everything that’s made me this way, I have found a much deeper level of confidence and command of the stage. I’m also playing with the most amazing female musicians who I love so much. It’s a powerful chemistry we have together and people tell me they really feel that when they watch the show.”
An all-female band is a definite statement in an industry where women are under-represented, but fits well with HebCelt’s philosophy of promoting women musicians and has had more than a 50:50 gender balance for at least five years.
“Massive props to HebCelt for this, it deserves an award”, KT says. “It’s still a major problem, and definitely part of the reason why I wanted to play with an all-female band.
“Representation is extremely important for young people to make the leap of faith to follow a dream. The saying goes ‘You cannot be what you cannot see’. Another festival I’m playing has 14 male acts on the listed line up before I am mentioned, the first female on the bill. It’s not good enough.
*“And it’s certainly not due to a lack of female artists. However, there does need to be encouragement across the board from all areas to make sure female artists and musicians are being given equal opportunity to succeed, and getting the experience they need to succeed. I’m happy to shout about this until I’m hoarse, but the best way to do anything is to be the change, so my job is to come out and rock the s*t out of it.”
KT is currently in the middle of writing the third part of her spirit, body and mind album trilogy, following ‘KIN’ and ‘WAX’.
“The next album is all about the brain, thought processes, beliefs, so I have lots of reading to do. I’m also compiling a playlist of music that feels right as inspiration.
“One song I absolutely love is ‘Makeba’ by Jain, a French artist. It’s such an amazing feel good song. The key to successful writing for me is usually making sure I don’t have anything else to do. You need space mentally and physically, and I love travelling but it needs to be for the sole reason to go on a writing trip if that’s what I hope to do. I can write anywhere, but I need peace and quiet, and a view helps!
“I will be starting work on the record as soon as all the festivals are done in August and I already have some really exciting songs in the mix.
“I’m also loving what’s happening with my online project ‘KT’s Kitchen’, where I cook my dinner backstage before my show with the band’s help on my little travel cooker and go live with fans. There’s some really exciting things happening there - keep your eyes peeled!”