A steady flow of highly acclaimed albums and worldwide tours have followed but unlike some of the other names on the imprint it’s been a musical career that has flown under the mainstream’s radar.
The 54-year-old, who has also written three novels, plays Birkenhead’s Future Yard venue this month and he paints a worrying picture of what life on the road for a folk musician is like these days.
“It’s scary for musicians at the moment,” says James. “Money is so precious for everyone and it has made touring very tricky indeed.
I’m okay because I make living as a solo musician mostly so I tour solo mostly and also I write my books but it’s really tricky times out there.
“There’s no money whatsoever in streaming – you can just discount Spotify completely – and that is passed on to the venues.
“But Future Yard is a lovely place to play – I particularly enjoyed the pizzas last time I played and I enjoyed the welcome from the congregation.”
James’ latest album, Songs for Nina and Johanna, sees him team up with two Swedish artists, Nina Persson, of The Cardigans, who sang and toured with him on his previous album, The Great White Sea Eagle, with Johanna Söderberg, of First Aid Kit, also accompanying James this time around.
Sadly neither artist is able to join James on this latest sets of dates which will see him play solo at Future Yard.
“Who wouldn’t embrace the chance to sing with two great Swedish voices?”, says Yorkston. “When the idea for Johanna to join the fold was suggested, I leapt at the chance. Nina and Johanna, they complement, yet never compete. And me? I tried not to get in their way, tried to give them space to interpret the songs as they felt.
“Playing with Nina it felt like I had the best seat in the house watching this amazing woman singing and touring solo can be quite a solitary thing and when you have someone with you it’s a lot more fun to share the experience.
“For me, my records, like my books, are milestones and with this latest album even though I knew we couldn’t really promote it as a trio, it was all about getting the album done.”
The Cardigans, famed for hits like Lovefool and My Favourite Game, still tour the world and James clearly appreciates how lucky he is to be able to collaborate with some of Nina’s fame.
“The Cardigans still play massive rooms, especially in Scandinavia and Japan and South America,” he says. “They still sell a lot of tickets and there’s a great love for their songs.
“When I was younger I remember a pal giving me an album he’d taped and it went all round our friend group and that was The Cardigan’s album Life and I totally got into it.
“I was listening to traditional music and a lot of reggae at the time rather than guitar music but that one definitely stuck.
“Nina couldn’t commit to doing all this new album – we did something like 60 shows in 15 different countries for the last album and there was a lot of travelling – but luckily co-producer Daniel Bengtson suggested Johanna and when I listened to her music it made sense on so many levels.
“She’s an amazing singer and she’s 25 years younger than me and Nina so I felt like there was no way you compare them – it would just be a different, wonderful voice.”
While James lives in the Scottish fishing village of Cellardyke in Fife, he admits that the Swedish way of making music is something he finds very appealing.
He says: “I’ve been going to Sweden for 25 years and I’ve always felt they have something going on! They have a deep appreciation and knowledge of the classic sounds of the late 60s and 70s.
“When you meet musicians of my age the ones who are left tend to be good guys and ladies – they’ve done the pub gigs, they’ve released dodgy eps but they’re still at it and they’re still doing music.
“I’ve been working with lots of people in Sweden who have all been through that so it feels like everyone I meet is a nice person even though I’m sure Sweden has it’s troublesome types too!”
Long-time fans of James’ music sound like they could be in for a treat at the Birkenhead gig with the songwriter going back through his 16 solo albums for inspiration.
“I’ve had requests coming in so I’ve been learning the old songs and relearning different versions,” he added. “I’m just trying to be match fit and ready for the most obvious ones but also ones that might just come out of the blue.
“We’ll just see how the crowd feels, see how I feel and see what journey we all go on. It’s so easy when you’re solo because you can just do whatever you want and go and enjoy it and see what happens!
“It keeps it interesting for me and you can really tell as an audience if somebody is on stage enjoying themself or if someone is on stage bored and just going though the numbers and I never want that to happen.
“I’m blessed to be able to make a living being a musician and I don’t take it for granted at all.”
James Yorkston plays Birkenhead’s Future Yard on Monday, December 8 2025 at 7.30pm. Tickets from futureyard.org
