KT Tunstall

KT Tunstall

Kate "KT" Tunstall (born June 23, 1975) is a Grammy-nominated, BRIT Award-winning Scottish singer/songwriter.

Personal life

Tunstall was born in Edinburgh and was subsequently adopted. Her adoptive father was a physics lecturer at the University of St Andrews, and her adoptive mother a school teacher. Tunstall's adoptive family also included an older brother named Joe and a younger brother named Daniel.

In her twenties, Tunstall met her birth mother, who told her that her biological father was a folk musician. She spent time performing on Church Street in Burlington, Vermont, and at a commune in rural Vermont. Since 2003, Tunstall has been dating Luke Bullen, the drummer in her band. She has indicated her intention to live in Edinburgh with Bullen. Her birth mother is half Chinese and her father, whom she never met, is Irish.

She was an English-Speaking Union Secondary School Exchange Scholar whilst at school.

Career

Tunstall performing at the 2005 Glastonbury Festival.

Tunstall performing at the Cardiff Union on October 19, 2005.

Tunstall studied at the High School of Dundee in Dundee, Madras College in St Andrews, Kent School in Connecticut, and at Royal Holloway College near London. Throughout her twenties, she mostly played in independent bands including Elia Drew and Tomoko, and focused on songwriting. Her debut album, Eye to the Telescope, was released in late 2004. Tunstall's style of music varies from folk to pop. In Edinburgh and St Andrews, she played in a band called Red Light Stylus, which was regarded as one of the better bands to emerge from the limited Fife scene.

Tunstall's first appearance of note was a solo performance of "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" on Later with Jools Holland. The performance was notable as she had only 24 hours to prepare after scheduled performer Nas cancelled due to his father's ill health. Her performance caught the eye of many viewers, upstaging more established acts such as The Cure, Embrace, and The Futureheads; she then went on to top the post-show poll on the website for that episode.

Shortly after the "Later" appearance, Eye to the Telescope was re-released and shot up the UK charts, eventually peaking at #3 (on its first release it had entered at #73); it was nominated for the 2005 Mercury Music Prize. It was released in the U.S. on February 7, 2006.

Tunstall released a new acoustic album in May 2006, KT Tunstall's Acoustic Extravaganza, which was first only available via mail order from her website. The album was re-released in stores worldwide in October 2006.

Tunstall co-wrote the song "Under The Moonlight" (in which she sings) with Scottish band Travis for their new album The Boy With No Name, released on May 7, 2007.

According to her official website, the recording of Tunstall's second album called Drastic Fantastic is complete. It is set to be released on September 3, 2007 in the UK and September 18, 2007, in the US.

Live performances

Tunstall is known for her live performances, in which she combines virtuoso use of a loop pedal (an AKAI E2 Headrush, which she affectionately calls "Wee Bastard,") with a full four-piece backing band. She tours extensively, with plans to return to the road after the release of her next album Drastic Fantastic.

Since her debut appearance on Later with Jools Holland, she has returned to the show to perform "Suddenly I See," "Under the Weather," "Tangled up in Blue" (she performed the same song, as well as "Simple Twist of Fate" and "This Wheel's on Fire" on a BBC 4 Bob Dylan tribute), and an Ella Fitzgerald song ("Ain't Misbehavin'" by Fats Waller) with Jools Holland on piano.

She ended 2005 on Hogmanay by performing at Edinburgh's Concert in the Gardens alongside Scottish band Texas, being broadcast on BBC Scotland's Hogmanay Live show also.

She performed live in New York's Times Square on Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve for New Year's Eve 2006.

On 7 July, 2007, she performed at the American leg of Live Earth at Giants Stadium in New Jersey wearing gold leggings and a t-shirt fittingly emblazoned with "save the future". She sang her two biggest hits, "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree", "Suddenly I See", along with "Other Side of the World".

On 10 July, 2007, she performed on the Today Show. She appeared with her full band and played "Suddenly I See," "Black Horse and Cherry Tree," Other Side of the World," and her newest single, "Hold On".

Awards

In 2005, Tunstall won Best Track Q Music Award for "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree".

She received a nomination for the Mercury Music Prize.

Tunstall received three BRIT award nominations when they were announced on January 11, 2006. Nominations included Best British Live Act, British Breakthrough Act, and British Female Solo Artist. At the ceremony on February 15, 2006, Tunstall performed "Suddenly I See" and won the award for Best British Female Solo Artist, remarking that she wished to share it with fellow nominee Kate Bush.

On January 22 2006, she was awarded a European Border Breakers Award, which awards the top-selling EU artists, discounting sales in their home state (in this case, discounting UK sales).

Also, in 2006 she also won the Ivor Novello Best Song Musically and Lyrically for "Suddenly I See" along with Scottish Style Awards "Most Stylish Band or Musician - Interview here."

She received a 2007 Grammy Award nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. However, the award went to Christina Aguilera's "Ain't No Other Man."

Other credits

Tunstall also appears on the Sophie Solomon song "Lazarus," on the album Poison Sweet Madeira, and provided guest vocals for three tracks, "Ladino Song," "Refugee," and "Yesterday's Mistake," on the Oi Va Voi album Laughter Through Tears (2003). She has also performed "Get Ur Freak On" by Missy Elliott and "Fake Plastic Trees" by Radiohead at Live Lounge. Tunstall's seventh single, "Another Place to Fall," featured a cover of Radiohead's "Fake Plastic Trees". She appears in the last album of the Japanese singer YUKI, where she wrote "Yume Miteitai" and "Birthday."

Mass media coverage

Tunstall was the musical guest on an episode of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, performing "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree," and on her second appearance sang "Suddenly I See."

Tunstall also performed on Cartoon Network Fridays in October 2006. She played the songs "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" and "Suddenly I See."

While Tunstall had performed on multiple American talk shows since the previous summer, it wasn't until January 17, 2007 that Tunstall actually was interviewed on an American program, The Ellen DeGeneres Show specifically.

Name

When asked about her nickname, KT, by Ken Bruce on BBC Radio 2 in a pre-BRIT Awards 2006 interview, she said that it is just an abbreviation of the initials of her name, Kate Tunstall. While a student at Royal Holloway, University of London she performed on an acoustic guitar in a student bar, under the name Katie. She was also known as the Princes Street Busker, and headlined the 2006 Edinburgh's Hogmanay Celebration. In an interview on XM Satellite Radio (Hear Music, Channel 75) in 2006, she said that PJ Harvey was the inspiration for her abbreviating her name.

Controversy

Tunstall sparked some controversy in 2005 when she publicly bashed singer/songwriter Dido, stating that the artist "can't fucking sing" after several fans compared the two musically. Tunstall later apologized, stating that she did not want to be involved in a public feud.

Even though Tunstall has revealed her gratitude to her gay and lesbian following in an interview with a daily newspaper. And, she also wore a pair of rainbow patterned braces on her record cover. However, despite rumours otherwise, she is not a lesbian herself.

Other media exposure

• On July 11 2007 "Suddenly I See" was used as a waiting song before Nintendo's E3 2007 Media Briefing began in Santa Monica.

• In May 2006, "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" was covered twice by Katharine McPhee on American Idol, as well as young Croatian singer Nika Turkovic.

• "Suddenly I See" was used during the opening credits of the 2006 Meryl Streep film The Devil Wears Prada, as well as the farewell smusic for female contestants eliminated from the Fox network reality TV show So You Think You Can Dance. It was also used in the ABC network television show Six Degrees and the BBC series Torchwood, and closed out the premiere episode of the television show Ugly Betty. It was also used in Brazilian 2005-06 telenovela Belíssima. It was used on an episode of the first season of The Loop (TV series). The video game Thrillville plays the song in the theme parks' looping radio station as well. It can also be heard in Medium Season 3, Episode 7: Mother's Little Helper. Recently, "Suddenly I see" was confirmed to be featured on the upcoming fall release of Konami's popular dancing video game: Dance Dance Revolution SuperNOVA 2.

• Four of her songs, including "Suddenly I See," have been used on Grey's Anatomy. The KT Tunstall's Acoustic Extravaganza version of "Universe & U" is on the second season's soundtrack.

• "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" was heard in an episode of the Lifetime original series Angela's Eyes, and in the pilot and advertisements for Men In Trees, and in season three, episode 5 of The 4400. It was also heard during the walk/dance scene in the Robin Williams movie "Man of the Year".

• Her song, "Through the Dark" was featured during the closing credits of the pilot episode of the short-lived ABC Family show, Three Moons Over Milford.

• Tunstall's music was also featured in the Oscar-winning movie The Devil Wears Prada, through which the song "Suddenly I See" first became popular in North America.

Discography

For a complete list of releases, see KT Tunstall discography.

Albums

• 2004: Eye to the Telescope
• 2006: KT Tunstall's Acoustic Extravaganza
• 2007: Drastic Fantastic

Early recordings

• Tracks In July (2000)
  • This was Tunstall's demo album and was never commercially released. The only track to have been released from this album in its original form is "Little Favours," on the "Under The Weather" 7-inch vinyl. "Gone To The Dogs" and "Change" were re-recorded for the Acoustic Extravaganza album.
    • This album was recorded acoustically by KT herself, and features only KT on her acoustic guitar.
    • There are many fakes of this album for sale on eBay, yet some copies are in fact originals which have been known to sell for at least £150.

• KT Toons '03 (2003)
  • This was another of KT's demo albums and was also never commercially released.
    • These tracks were recorded in a studio, and featured drums, electric guitar, and keyboards, and were not recorded acoustically, like "Tracks In July."
    • A demo version of "Other Side Of The World" from this album and a song called "If Only" were available for download on KT's official website, before she signed a deal.
    • The aforementioned tracks are floating around the internet and are available for download in various sources. Her single "Suddenly I See" made its debut over a year ago in Australia and re-entered the Australian charts at #15 in March 2007, and as the weeks passed it has jumped into the top 10, peaking at #6 and being certified gold (35,000) on March 23. Her album also re-entered the charts that day at #43.

• One Night In Gaia (2004)
  • This was a promotional live EP, recorded at Gaia Music London in 2004.
    • The live version of "One Day" from this EP was released commercially on the "Black Horse & The Cherry Tree" single. The version of "Immune" from this EP was released commercially on the USA "Eye To The Telescope - Deluxe Edition."

Singles/EPs

UK Release	Title	Album	Chart positions
			UK	U.S.	U.S. Pop	U.S. AC	U.S. Adult Top 40	U.S. Digital	Italy	CAN	IRL	ARIA Singles Chart
2004	"Throw Me a Rope"	Single-only release	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
	"False Alarm" (EP)	Eye to the Telescope	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2005	"Black Horse and the Cherry Tree"		28	20	22	4	1	9	10	22	16	-
	"Other Side of the World"		13	-	-	-	19	-	22	-	25	-
	"Suddenly I See"		12	21	23	10	7	14	36	33	25	6
	"Under the Weather"		39	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2006	"Another Place to Fall"		52	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
	"Ashes" (Promo Only)	Acoustic Extravaganza	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2007	"Hold On"	Drastic Fantastic	-	108	95	-	38	-	-	-	-	-

• Notes:

1. "Throw Me a Rope" was released as a 7" vinyl only and was limited to 300 copies.
2. "False Alarm" was released as an EP.
3. "Other Side of The World" charted at Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks in 2007.

External links

• KT Tunstall Official website
• KT Tunstall Official forum
• Template:MySpace-music
• U.S. Official Billboard Chart History
• KT Tunstall interview at Scottish Style Awards 2006
• KT Tunstall at TV.com
• "KT Tunstall: Eyes to the Skies" interview by Jay S. Jacobs
• Glastonbury Festival interview (22 June 2007)
• The Outsider Festival interview (24 June 2007)

Video:

• "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" for Austin City Limits (PBS)
• Austin City Limits interview (PBS)

Audio:

• NPR interview (2 February 2006)
• NPR interview (4 February 2006)
• Interview and performances at AOL Music