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James Grant (born 22 November 1963) is a Scottish musician, singer, and songwriter. He grew up in Glasgow's Castlemilk district and still resides in the city.
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James Grant (born 22 November 1963) is a Scottish musician, singer, and songwriter. He grew up in Glasgow's Castlemilk district and still resides in the city.
James Grant's music career began in 1982 as songwriter and guitarist in the new wave band Friends Again, alongside Chris Thomson, later of the Bathers. The group had minor hit singles with "State of Art", "Sunkissed" and "Honey at the Core". They released a self-titled EP in 1983 which reached No. 59 in the UK and then recorded their debut album, Trapped & Unwrapped, in 1984. On 5 June 2015, as part of the BBC Music Day at the broadcaster's Pacific Quay HQ in Glasgow, Grant and Thomson reunited to play two Friends Again songs - "State of Art" and "Honey at the Core" - for a live studio audience. Their performance was broadcast live on the Music Through Midnight show presented by Billy Sloan, though it was also filmed, perhaps for online content or a future broadcast. [1]
When Friends Again split in 1985, Grant went on to form Love and Money along with drummer Stuart Kerr and keyboardist Paul McGeechan. In their nine years together, they recorded four moderately successful albums, All You Need Is... , Strange Kind of Love , Dogs in the Traffic and Littledeath , and had six chart hits in the United Kingdom. [2]
In a newspaper interview in 2019, Grahame Skinner, the lead singer of Scottish pop / new wave band Hipsway, claimed that Grant should have had a credit on their debut single "The Broken Years", as he played lead guitar on the demo which won the band their first record deal with Mercury Records. [3]
Grant's first solo album, Sawdust in My Veins , was released on Survival Records in 1998. It featured long term collaborator Donald Shaw, Karen Matheson, harmonica player Fraser Speirs, drummer James Mackintosh and the BT Scottish Ensemble. After a label change to Vertical, the same lineup was retained for My Thrawn Glory in 2000. I Shot the Albatross , a collection of poetry set to music, was released in 2002. It included interpretations of works by Edwin Morgan, E. E. Cummings, and William Blake. The gentle, introspective Holy Love followed in 2004, featuring contributions by dobro player Jerry Douglas and ex-Thrum vocalist Monica Queen. Strange Flowers, a more upbeat collection, was released in February 2009.
Grant also scored the film The Near Room and has collaborated with Capercaillie's Karen Matheson, performing live and writing songs for her solo records The Dreaming Sea , Downriver , and Time to Fall .
In conversation with radio presenter Billy Sloan on BBC Scotland's Music Through Midnight show on 5 June 2015, Grant revealed he was writing material and suggested it was more likely to be for a solo album than another Love and Money project. [1]
Love and Money reformed for a show at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall as part of Celtic Connections 2011; this was intended to be a one-off but was very successful and the band subsequently decided to tour the UK. Following this, the band released their fifth studio album The Devil's Debt in 2012. A limited edition live album of their Royal Concert Hall show, Strange Kind of Love was also released.
Upon being asked to perform at Celtic Connections in 2022, Grant accepted and mentioned that he would like to do a "songwriter's circle" type of show, which led to Teenage Fanclub's Norman Blake and original Suede guitarist Bernard Butler being suggested. [4] At their debut show, Butler, Blake & Grant performed songs from each songwriter's back catalogue, with The Times calling it "a classic night." [5] Initially agreeing to do two shows, the trio's enjoyment of the experience led to more gigs. [6]
Bernard Joseph Butler is an English musician, songwriter and record producer. He has been hailed by some critics as the greatest guitarist of his generation; BBC journalist Mark Savage called him "one of Britain's most original and influential guitarists". He was voted the 24th greatest guitarist of the last 30 years in a national 2010 BBC poll and is often seen performing with a 1961 cherry red Gibson ES-355 TD SV with a Bigsby vibrato tailpiece.
Alexander James Harvey was a Scottish rock and blues musician. Although his career spanned almost three decades, he is best remembered as the frontman of the Sensational Alex Harvey Band, with whom he built a reputation as an exciting live performer during the era of glam rock in the 1970s.
David Sneddon is a Scottish singer, songwriter, musician and music producer of contemporary pop music. He began his career performing on stage and television, singing lead roles in stage musicals in Glasgow. In 2002, he won the first series of BBC One music competition Fame Academy. He released his first single "Stop Living the Lie" in 2003 which was a UK number one hit single selling over 250,000 copies, making it Britain's twelfth-highest selling single of 2003. Sneddon's debut album Seven Years – Ten Weeks was released in April 2003 and reached number 5 in the UK Albums Chart. He achieved three more UK Singles Chart singles – "Don't Let Go", "Best of Order", and "Baby Get Higher". His song "Baby Get Higher" was a hit on the dance floor for Almighty Records and a chart hit for VanVelzen in 2006, and also for Emin Agalarov.
BMX Bandits are a Scottish guitar pop band formed in Bellshill in 1986. Led by songwriter and lead vocalist Duglas T. Stewart, their music is heavily influenced by 1960s pop. They have shared members with numerous other local bands, including Teenage Fanclub and the Soup Dragons. BMX Bandits were a favourite band of Kurt Cobain, who said "If I could be in any other band, it would be BMX Bandits". In 2011, they were the subject of the documentary Serious Drugs: A Film About BMX Bandits.
Hipsway are a Scottish pop/new wave band.
Love and Money are a Scottish rock/soul/funk band, formed in 1985 in Glasgow, Scotland. The band was formed by three former members of Friends Again along with bassist Bobby Paterson, who replaced Friends Again's Neil Cunningham and who had been a member of Set the Tone, a band previously signed to Island Records in 1983.
Keith Jack is a British actor and singer. He was the runner-up on the BBC reality talent show Any Dream Will Do, which offered the chance to be the next West End Joseph for the hit musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. He lost out to Lee Mead in the final on 9 June 2007.
Frightened Rabbit were a Scottish indie rock band from Selkirk, formed in 2003. Initially a solo project for vocalist and guitarist Scott Hutchison, the final lineup of the band consisted of Hutchison, his brother Grant (drums), Billy Kennedy, Andy Monaghan, and Simon Liddell (guitar). From 2004, the band were based in Glasgow.
Roderick John Hart is a Scottish singer–songwriter, composer and broadcaster from Glasgow. As a solo artist, he has released three records – Bookmarks, Sign Language and Road of Bones – and one EP, The Dylan EP. Hart also releases albums with his band the Lonesome Fire, the first of which was the self-titled Roddy Hart & the Lonesome Fire produced by Danton Supple. Released in late 2013, the album was nominated for the Scottish Album of the Year Award in April 2014. Their second album, Swithering, was co-produced by Paul Savage and released in 2016. The band made their American network TV debut on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson on 17 February 2014 and proved so popular they were invited back the following week to perform a week-long residency on the show.
Vertical Records is an independent record label founded by Capercaillie member Donald Shaw in 2000, based in Glasgow, Scotland.
"The Honeythief" is a 1986 song performed by the Scottish band Hipsway.
Scott John Hutchison was a Scottish singer, songwriter, guitarist and artist. He was the founding member and primary songwriter of the indie rock band Frightened Rabbit, with whom he recorded five studio albums, and created the artwork for each release.
Grant Hutchison is a Scottish drummer and percussionist. He is best known as the drummer of the indie rock band Frightened Rabbit, with whom he recorded five studio albums. In 2022, Hutchison joined The Twilight Sad after a four-year hiatus from performing, following the death of his brother and bandmate, Scott Hutchison.
The Devil's Debt is the fifth studio album by Scottish band Love and Money, released by Vertical in 2012.
Sawdust in My Veins is the debut solo studio album by Scottish singer-songwriter James Grant, released in the UK by Survival Records on 27 April 1998. The album reached number 42 in the Scottish Albums Chart.
My Thrawn Glory is the second solo studio album by Scottish singer-songwriter James Grant, released in the UK by Vertical on 11 December 2000.
I Shot the Albatross is the third solo studio album by Scottish singer-songwriter James Grant, released in the UK by Vertical on 2002. The album is a collection of poetry by various poets set to music written by Grant.
"My Love Lives in a Dead House" is a song by Scottish band Love and Money, released in 1991 as the lead single from their third studio album Dogs in the Traffic. The song was written by James Grant and produced by Steve Nye. It peaked at number 83 in the UK Singles Chart.
His Latest Flame are a Scottish girl group, initially forming in 1983 and disbanding in 1990. The all-girl act were originally formed from members of Sophisticated Boom Boom following the departure of their vocalist Libby McArthur in 1983.
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