Tae Sup Wi’ A Fifer is a club night hosted and programmed by James Yorkston, originally based at the Adam Smith Theatre in Kirkcaldy, where it began in 2015. Since then, James has programmed Tae Sups in Edinburgh, Paisley, Peebles, Inverness, Lerwick and St. Andrews.
“With Tae Sup wi’ a Fifer, I just try and mix things up, keeping the line-ups interesting, not one particular genre or theme to a night… A lot of the people I ask to play are friends who I’ve known for years, or just people I’ve met on the road whose music has taken to me. It’s a’ braw though, and when programming Tae Sup, I just think Who would I like to see? and work from there…” – James Yorkston
The line-ups thus far have been:
Tae Sup # 1 ~ Aidan Moffat & Bill Wells / Aidian O’Rourke (Lau) / Sheena Wellington
Tae Sup # 2 ~ Karine Polwart / Dick Gaughan / Lisa O’Neill
Tae Sup # 3 ~ Steve Mason / Richard Dawson / Pip Dylan
Tae Sup # 4 ~ Karine Polwart / James Robertson / James Yorkston (The Spree, Ayr.)
Tae Sup # 5 ~ Martin Carthy / Alexis Taylor / Geoff Hattersely
Tae Sup # 6 ~ Linton Kwesi Johnson / Kathryn Joseph / Randolph’s Leap
Tae Sup # 7 ~ Malcolm Middleton / Viking Moses / Yorkston Thorne Khan
Tae Sup # 8 ~ King Creosote / Kadialy Kouyate / Laura Cannell
Tae Sup # 9 ~ Roddy Woomble / Oliver Coates / Yorkston Thorne Khan
Tae Sup # 10 ~ Lankum (Lynched) / Michael Chapman / Harry Giles
Tae Sup # 11 ~ Martin Simpson / Duke Special / Seamus Fogarty
Tae Sup # 12 ~ The Vaselines / Salena Godden / Marry Waterson & David A Jaycock
Tae Sup # 13 ~ Philip Selway (Radiohead) / David Thomas Broughton / Kathryn Williams
Tae Sup # 14 ~ Scott Hutchison (fRabbit) / Serafina Steer / Alasdair Roberts
Tae Sup # 15 ~ Ian McMillan / Grace Petrie / Withered Hand
Tae Sup # 16 ~ Phill Jupitus / Michael Hurley / Siobhan Wilson
Tae Sup # 17 ~ Carl Stone / Pictish Trail / Thomas McCarthy
Tae Sup # 18 ~ Emma Pollock / Martin Carr (Boo Radleys) / Rachel Sermanni
Tae Sup # 19 ~ Sheena Wellington / Richard Dawson / Lorna Goodison / Jeet Thayil
Tae Sup # 19 ~ Justin Currie / Bigid Mae Power / Nell Ní Chróinín
Tae Sup # 20 ~ Roddy Woomble (Idlewild) / Archie Fisher / Ora Cogan
Tae Sup # 21 ~ Vashti Bunyan / Audiobooks / Michael Pedersen
Tae Sup # 22 ~ Gruff Rhys / Brighde Chaimbeul / James Yorkston
Tae Sup # 23 ~ Josephine Foster / Jenny Lindsay / Adrian Crowley
Tae Sup # 24 ~ Horse McDonald / Daoiri Farrell / Kaviraj Singh
Tae Sup #25 ~ Jane Weaver / Ian Rankin / Callum Easter
Tae Sup # 26 ~ Stuart Braithwaite (Mogwai) / BELL LUNGS / Gwenifer Raymond
Tae Sup # 27 ~ Hollie McNish / Ye Vagabonds / Nancy Kerr & Luke Daniels
Tae Sup # 28 ~ Josie Long / Özgür Baba / Rachel Newton
Tae Sup at The Queen’s – Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh
March 2022 – Burd Ellen / Jamie Sutherland / Withered Hand & Kathryn Williams
April 2022 – Kinbrae & Clare Archibald / Liz Lochead & Andrew Wasylyk / J Wright Presents
December 2022 – Pictish Trail / Martin & Eliza Carthy / Iona Fyfe
March 2023 – Horse / Me for Queen / Finn Anderson
Tae Sup on Tour – Inverness / Shetland / Peebles / St Andrews
February 2023 – Philip Selway / Marjolein Robertson / Rachel Sermanni
September 2022 – Josie Long, Jeffrey Lewis, Kathryn Joseph
July 2022 – Gruff Rhys, Salena Godden and Brìghde Chaimbeul
A wee bit about James Yorkston:
James Yorkston is a singer-songwriter and author from the East Neuk of Fife, Scotland. Since signing to Domino Records in 2001, James has released a steady flow of highly acclaimed albums, leading to him touring his music worldwide.
James’ 2021 album ‘The Wide, Wide River’ was called “Another fascinating, curious contribution to the Scottish musician’s constantly eddying catalogue” by The Guardian, “A beautiful experience” by Clash and “Another career highlight” by The Scotsman.
The follow up, ‘The Great White Sea Eagle’ features guest Nina Persson (The Cardigans) and was released by Domino in January 2023.
“His teamwork with the Second Hand Orchestra, and especially with Persson, results in some of the most beautiful and moving music he’s made, which is high praise indeed.” – AllMusic.
“On The Great White Sea Eagle, Yorkston shows again that he is a significant 21st century songwriter who has chosen the perfect, if unlikely foil of Nina Persson to help realize his compositions. It’s a beautiful, hand made collection of natural and unforced songs to be treasured.” – Clash
With his Yorkston / Thorne / Khan project, James explores his love of traditional and experimental music, mixing them with Indian Classical music. Y/T/K’s 2020 release, Navarasa, was The Guardian’s Folk Album of the Year.
James’ second novel, ‘The Book of the Gaels’ (Oldcastle Press, 2022) was a Times Newspaper Book of the Month and one of their Historical Fiction Books of the Year.