I first came across Kenny Anderson, aka King Creosote, back in the mid-90s when he was a regular on the St Andrews’ music scene either playing at pubs like Aikmans* on Bell Street or playing in bands such as Khartoum Heroes and the Skoubhie Dubh Orchestra. Rumour had it that the latter of those two bands was forced to change their name due to it sounding too much like a certain cartoon character for the lawyers representing its American studio. How much truth there was in that I have no idea but it did give Kenny and co some publicity. I saw both those bands in 1995, the Heroes in Crail at the Community Hall and the Orchestra at the Victory Memorial Hall in St Andrews. I have no memory of the Crail gig though do remember seeing the likes of Tom Paxton and Salsa Celtica play that converted church venue some years later, gigs organised by the Crail Folk Club. But I do remember being at the Memorial Hall which was across the road from the student association building.
Crail was just down the road from the village of Kingsbarns, where I was living in those days, and I started going along to the folk club more out of curiosity than anything else. I certainly wasn’t much of a folk music fan back then but there was always a friendly welcome from Jill who ran the club and they were happy to see any musicians who were willing to sing a song regardless of what genre it was. I can still recall my first visit to the Golf Hotel for a singers’ night. I was sitting at a table quietly minding my own business when Jill approached me and asked if I could sing. Yes, I replied, a bit. Her next question was, do you play any instruments? I replied that I played the guitar and her third question threw me a bit as she asked, if I find you a guitar will you give us a song? Shortly after that I was sitting in front of the audience playing a rather hurried version of The Beatles’ song I’m Only Sleeping. When I had finished I went and sat down. There was a couple sitting next to me and the chap told me that was one of his favourite Beatles songs, but he’d never heard it played so fast. That must’ve been the adrenalin kicking in - nature's amphetamine!
But back to King Creosote. By the late 90s Kenny, along with various pals in Anstruther in the East Neuk of Fife, had formed the Fence Collective. They all adopted nicknames such as The Pictish Trail, Uncle Beesly and HMS Ginafore and their gigs were usually fairly laid-back affairs with each of them taking turns on the sound desk and sitting in with each other on stage. I saw them a number of times around the East Neuk in places like Anstruther, Pittenweem and Elie and a memorable night when they came along en masse from Anstruther to the Crail Folk Club. There was a great sense of camaraderie among the Collective and I was quite envious of how much fun they always seemed to have playing their music. The folk club was all well and good, and I did meet some people there who became close friends, but the Fence Collective had something special going on there. My final Fence gig before leaving Fife was at the St Andrews Scout Hut, an unlikely venue for a gig but it suited them down to the ground. There were quite a few students in the audience which was unusual. I'd been to a couple of poorly attended gigs at the student association but word must have got around that the Fence Collective were worth seeing.
I should mention one other gig from those times which took place at the Association - it wasn't called a student union as St Andrews wasn’t affiliated to the NUS. In May 2004 King Creosote played support to the American indie pop duo Joy Zipper. I hadn’t heard of them but my mate Joe was interested in the gig so I went along too. Kenny took to the stage and for some reason there was a spinning top on the floor next to his chair. He made no mention of it and it sat there until the end of one of his songs when he pumped it up and as the music faded, he set it spinning. A slightly surreal moment but in a way it perfectly summed up his music and the Fence Collective vibe.
Since moving to Lancaster in 2005 I have seen Kenny a couple of times here along with a very good headlining spot with his own band at the Cloudspotting festival in 2016. His Fence friend The Pictish Trail has made it here too along with James Yorkston who was a member of the Fence Collective back in its early days before he went on to pursue a solo career.
I’d be interested in Kenny’s thoughts on those days but at his recent gig at The Hall in Lancaster he told us that he always has the internet turned off. He seems happy though, living as he is in Crail and playing his accordion. Good to see you again KC. As those of us from north of the border might say, lang may yer lum reek.
*I’m sure Aikmans was known by another name but I can’t for the life of me remember what it was. If your memory is better than mine, do let me know what it was called. Cheers.
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