KT Tunstall

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KT Tunstall
KT Tunstall performing at the 2005 Summer Sundae in Leicester.
Background information
Birth name	Kate Tunstall
Born	June 23, 1975 (age 31) St Andrews, Scotland
Genre(s)	Folk, Pop, Acoustic
Instrument(s)	Guitar, drums,piano, vocals
Years active	2000–present
Label(s)	Relentless/Virgin (2004-present)
Website	http://www.kttunstall.com/

Kate "KT" Tunstall (born June 23, 1975) is a Grammy nominated, BRIT Award-winning singer-songwriter from St Andrews, Scotland, United Kingdom.

Contents 1 Personal life 2 Career 3 Live performances 4 Awards 5 Other credits 6 Name 7 Trivia 8 Discography 8.1 Albums 8.2 Singles/EPs 9 Awards 10 References 11 External links

[edit] Personal life

Tunstall was born in Edinburgh, and was subsequently adopted. "KT" is an abbreviation for the initials of her full name, Kate Tunstall. Her father is a physicist, and her mother is a school teacher. Tunstall also has an older brother named Joe and a younger brother named Daniel. Her younger brother Daniel is, how she has described, "profoundly deaf", which is one reason Tunstall states for her family not playing so much music in her household as it would have interfered with their communication with him.

In her twenties, Tunstall met her birth mother, who told her that her biological father was a folk musician. She spent time performing on the famous Church Street in Burlington, Vermont, and at a commune in rural Vermont. As of 2003, Tunstall has been dating Luke Bullen, the drummer in her band. ^[1] She has indicated her intention to live in Edinburgh with Bullen. KT’s birth mother is of Chinese descent and her father, whom she never met, is Irish.[1] [2]

[edit] Career

Tunstall studied at the High School of Dundee in Dundee; Madras College in St Andrews; Kent School, Connecticut; and at Royal Holloway. 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 who were 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 twenty-four 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, and 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 three (on its first release it had entered at seventy-three); 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 had co-wrote a song (in which one she sings) with Scottish band Travis for their new album "The boy with no name" due for release on May 7, 2007.

According to her official website, the recording of KT's second album is complete.

[edit] Live performances

Tunstall is known for her live performances in which she combines virtuoso use of a loop pedal with a full four piece backing band. She tours extensively, with plans to return to the road after the release of her next album, which is to be recorded in late 2006.

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 Gardengs alongside Scottish band Texas, being broadcast on BBC Scotland's Hogmanay Live show also.

During her concerts, Tunstall uses an AKAI E2 Headrush loop pedal on stage, which she affectionately calls "Wee Bastard".

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

[edit] Awards

In addition to the Mercury Music Prize nomination, Tunstall received three Brit award nominations when they were announced on 11 January 2006. Tunstall was nominated for Best British Live Act, British Breakthrough Act, and British Female Solo Artist. At the ceremony on 15 February 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. She also 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."

[edit] 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".

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

[edit] 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.

[edit] Trivia

• Tunstall sparked some controversy in 2005 when she publicly bashed singer/songwriter Dido, stating that the artist "can't f***ing sing" after several fans compared the two musically. Tunstall later apologized, stating that she did not want to be involved in a public feud.[3]

• 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 music 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, the BBC series Torchwood and closed out the premiere episode of the television show Ugly Betty. It was also used in Brazilian 2005-2006 telenovela Belíssima. It was also used on an episode of the first season of The Loop (TV series).

• 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.

• KT was an English-Speaking Union Secondary School Exchange Scholar whilst at school

• 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.

• KT has revealed her gratitude to her gay and lesbian following in an interview with a daily newspaper.^[2] She also wore a pair of rainbow patterned braces (US: suspenders) on her record cover.^[3]

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

• Tracks In July (2000)
  • This was KT'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" 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 album and was also never commercially released.
    • These tracks were recorded in a studio, and featured drums, electric guitar, 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.

• 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"

• Eye to the Telescope (2004) #3 UK; #33 U.S.; #41 Canada; #85 Australia.
  • More than 2.6 million copies have been sold since January 2005.
    • U.S. Sales: 1,000,299
    • RIAA Certification: Platinum (1,000,000 copies shipped) (Source of U.S. sales: Soundscan sales)

• KT Tunstall's Acoustic Extravaganza (2006)
  • Initially available only through her official website, official release Oct 5, 2006 via Relentless.
  • CD/DVD Album
  • Recorded in one day on the Isle of Skye

[edit] 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	CAN	IRL
1 Mar 2004	"Throw Me a Rope"	False Alarm	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
11 Oct 2004	"False Alarm" (EP)	Eye to the Telescope	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
21 Feb 2005	"Black Horse and the Cherry Tree"		28	20	22	4	1	9	22	16
9 May 2005	"Other Side of the World"		13	-	-	-	-	-	-	25
29 Aug 2005	"Suddenly I See"		12	21	23	17	7	14	33	25
5 Dec 2005	"Under the Weather"		39	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
13 Mar 2006	"Another Place to Fall"		52	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
October 2006	"Ashes" (Promo Only)	Acoustic Extravaganza	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a

• 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.

[edit] Awards

• Q Music Awards 2005 — Best Track for "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree"
• BRIT Awards 2006 — Best British Female Solo Artist
• Ivor Novello Awards 2006 — Best Song Musically and Lyrically for "Suddenly I See"
• Scottish Style Awards 2006 — Most Stylish Band or Musician - Interview here

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• KT Tunstall Official website
• KT Tunstall Official forum
• KT Tunstall at MySpace
• U.S. Official Billboard Chart History
• KT Tunstall interview at Scottish Style Awards 2006
• [4] at IMDb
• [5] at Tv.com