King Creosote

King Creosote
Background information
Birth name Kenneth Anderson[1]
Born 1967 (age 48–49)
Origin Fife, Scotland
Labels
Associated acts
Website kingcreosote.com

Kenny Anderson (born 1967),[2] known primarily by his stage name King Creosote,[3] is an independent singer-songwriter from Fife, Scotland. To date, Anderson has released over forty albums, with his latest, From Scotland with Love, released in 2014.[4] Anderson is also a member of Scottish-Canadian band The Burns Unit. In 2011, Anderson's collaborative album with Jon Hopkins, Diamond Mine, was nominated for the Mercury Prize and the Scottish Album of the Year Award.

Musical career

After having featured in Scottish bands Skuobhie Dubh Orchestra and Khartoum Heroes, in 1995 Kenny Anderson launched the Fence record label and began recording albums under the name King Creosote.[5]

King Creosote was one of the original artists to contribute a t-shirt design for the Yellow Bird Project charity initiative, back in 2006. Anderson's design features an accordion, enscribed with the name "FENCE"; a reference to his DIY record label collective.[6]

Anderson founded Fence Records alongside Johnny Lynch,[7] but stepped back from day-to-day running of the label in 2010.

In recent years, Anderson has teamed up with Domino Records who have co-released some of his albums. He also spent some time on Warner subsidiary, 679, which gave him major label backing for the first time. His increasing frustration with the music industry and how digital recordings are becoming throwaway commodities led him to release his material in small, vinyl only runs which were largely only available at concerts.

To this end, KC Rules OK was re-released in 2006 with different versions of some songs, and a version of the album called "Chorlton and the Wh'earlies" recorded with The Earlies was available with some purchases. Bombshell was released with an additional disc, a DVD film of King Creosote and friends on tour.

In the 2007 film Hallam Foe two of his songs, "The Someone Else" and "King Bubbles in Sand", were featured.[8]

In late 2009, Anderson released a new studio album Flick the Vs, and crafted a performance only album, entitled My Nth Bit of Strange in Umpteen Years. Anderson also contributed to the Cold Seeds collaborative album along with Frances Donnelly of Animal Magic Tricks, and Neil Pennycook and Pete Harvey from Meursault; which was released on the Edinburgh-based indie label Song, by Toad Records. Anderson, Donnelly and Pennycook all wrote songs for the project, which all four performers then recorded together; each singer often taking the lead vocal role on a song written by another of the artists. The album was given a special limited release at the Fence Records Homegame Festival in Anstruther, Fife in March 2010, before a general release was announced for June 2010.

In 2011, Anderson attended the SxSW Music Festival and played a number of shows, two of which featured fellow Scottish attendees Kid Canaveral as his backing band. The same year, Anderson released Diamond Mine, a collaborative album with electronica composer Jon Hopkins, to critical acclaim. The album was nominated for the Mercury Prize, with Anderson stating, "It feels like this is the beginning of something. And to feel that so far down the line, after putting out forty effing albums, oh my God! It means, I can still do this, it's not over."[9] The duo subsequently released an EP, Honest Words.

In 2013, Anderson released That Might Well Be It, Darling, a full-band re-recording of his limited edition vinyl album That Might Be It, Darling.

In 2014, Anderson created the soundtrack for a film about Scotland for the 2014 Commonwealth Games. From Scotland With Love is a poetic film exploring the history of the country, compiled entirely from archive footage with no commentary or narration. Speaking to The Guardian about the creative process, Anderson explained that the film was a long way from the typical "tartan, Highland Games, shortbread kind of tourist film". It was broadcast on BBC Scotland in June.[10]

Personal life

Anderson's brothers are also musicians: Ian Anderson (known as Pip Dylan) and Gordon Anderson (Lone Pigeon) - who is lead singer and main songwriter with The Aliens. The three frequently collaborate at live shows and on album releases.

Anderson lives in Fife. He has a daughter, Beth, born in 1999; a second daughter was born in 2013, with Anderson's partner, Jen Gordon (a.k.a. HMS Ginafore).[10][11][12]

Discography

Releases on CD-R

Albums released on CD, LP and/or Digitally

EPs

Singles

Other works

Sources:[15][16]

Other recordings

References

  1. ↑ "Songwriter/Composer: ANDERSON KENNETH". BMI Repertoire. Broadcast Music Incorporated. Retrieved 2011-10-06.
  2. ↑ Nicola Meighan (22 July 2014). "Kenny's Loggin' The Past: King Creosote's Scots' History Soundtrack". The Quietus.
  3. ↑ "King Creosote Interview". Band Weblogs. 10 October 2007. Retrieved 2011-05-28. I used to make records with a band called Skuobhie Dubh Orchestra, but always had to record a lot of my songs on my own. I wanted to put out these recordings on my own label Fence, so then I needed something to go on the fence. That’s the creosote part. I wrote down King Creosote, and immediately liked the juxtaposition of the regal and the carcinogenic.
  4. ↑ "Record Label: Domino Records". Dominorecordsco.com. Retrieved 2014-07-23.
  5. ↑ "King Creosote - Interview". Contactmusic.com. Retrieved February 2013.
  6. ↑ Matheson, Whitney (2007-01-29). "Buy a shirt, help a charity". USA Today. Retrieved 2013-11-28.
  7. ↑ "The Pictish Trail profile". Fence Records. Retrieved 16 October 2010.
  8. ↑ "Domino | Albums | Hallam Foe - Original Soundtrack". Dominorecordco.com. Retrieved 2011-12-31.
  9. ↑ Jude Rogers (30 August 2011). "King Creosote and Jon Hopkins: Diamond geezers | Music". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 2011-12-31.
  10. 1 2 Stuart Aitken (23 June 2014). "No tartan, no shortbread – King Creosote portrays a different Scotland". guardian.co.uk.
  11. ↑ Siobhán Kane (25 July 2012). "King Creosote - I'm Not Dead Yet".
  12. ↑ "King Creosote interview: new albums, life in Fife and Fence Records". 21 November 2013.
  13. ↑ "Scottish Albums of the Decade #17: King Creosote - Rocket D.I.Y". The Skinny. 2009-11-26. Retrieved 2014-07-23.
  14. ↑ "King Creosote: Sure & Steadfast". Alteregotradingcompany.org. Retrieved 2014-07-23.
  15. ↑ "music". king creosote. Retrieved 2014-07-23.
  16. ↑ "King Creosote Discography at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2014-07-23.
  17. ↑ Archived 3 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine.

External links

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