King Creosote

Kenny Anderson, known widely by his stage name King Creosote, is a prolific Scottish singer-songwriter born in January 1967. Hailing from Fife, Scotland, his varied catalogue encompasses indie folk, ambient, and experimental pop music. His musical journey began at an early age, picking up the accordion when he was just 7 years old. After spending some time as a busking musician and playing with local bands like Skuobhie Dubh Orchestra and Khartoum Heroes, he embarked on a solo career, launching the Fence record label and adopting the moniker King Creosote in 1995. The label not only showcased both his music and his fierce DIY ethos but also served as a platform for other up-and-coming artists at the time, including KT Tunstall, James Yorkston, and his brother's projects, Pip Dylan and Lone Pigeon. Queen of Brush County, his independent studio debut, came out in 1998 and was followed by other four releases that same year. His first properly distributed album, Kenny and Beth's Musakal Boat Rides, was released in 2003 via a joint effort between his Fence imprint and Domino Records. The album exposed his music to a much bigger audience, kicking off a run of critically acclaimed albums such as Rocket D.I.Y. (2005) and KC Rules OK (2006). In 2007, King Creosote returned with his major-label debut Bombshell, released through the Warner subsidiary 679. However, it was with 2011's Diamond Mine, an ambient folk project made in collaboration with producer Jon Hopkins, that he reached the pinnacle of his critical success, receiving his first nomination for a Mercury Prize. Over subsequent years, King Creosote scored the soundtrack to the 2014 documentary From Scotland with Love and continued to explore his vast array of influences on albums like Astronaut Meets Appleman, which reached number 2 on the UK charts in 2016. I Des, his fiftieth studio LP, hit the shelves in 2023 and peaked at number 61 in the United Kingdom.