Musical royalty King Creosote returns to rule Clitheroe

Scots' singer-songwriter Kenny Anderson, known by his stage name King Creosote, first played at the Grand Theatre in 2010, and has been a regular visitor to the Ribble Valley ever since.
King Creosote will rule the stage at The Grand, Clitheroe. (s)King Creosote will rule the stage at The Grand, Clitheroe. (s)
King Creosote will rule the stage at The Grand, Clitheroe. (s)

Matt Evans talks to king Kenny ahead of Sunday’s King Creosote show at the Grand.

A prolific recording artist who never stands still, his numerous high water marks include a Mercury-nominated collaboration with Jon Hopkins and his much admired LP From Scotland with Love.

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He has made 40 albums, with his latest, Astronaut Meets Appleman, released to critical acclaim.

Kenny, you created your own record label Fence Records, however the music business has changed beyond recognition in the last decade.

“The visual artists seem pretty adept at keeping the value of their stock high.

“Recorded music, on the other hand, no matter how much time, talent and money is invested into the product, is treated like it is worth nothing at all.

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“It is shoved up online as a free for all, and that attitude has now spilled over in to the live arena.

“Having been the messenger of doom and gloom for 15 years, I am now at a point where I find keeping my music away from the online masses to be hugely inspiring.

I have but one album left to convince Domino (record label) that the music from bands like King Creosote has no place alongside videos of teenagers spewing out rubbish on the Internet, or the players of Minecraft taping their worst efforts on You Tube.

“Physical albums sales have fallen 30% each year, largely due to streaming.

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“Meaning, that for an artist like me, if you are producing an album, say every couple of years, the best you can hope for is to sell half of its’ predecessor.

“These days I make way more money using algorithms to compare small sections of similar sounding music.

“Even with my traditionally low royalty rate and all the usual deductions, how long do you think it will take for my streaming income to make up for the lost record royalties?

Answer: 500 years.”

What are your memories of your previous visits to the Ribble Valley?

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“I loved Waddington, discovering that there are way more than three flavours of fruit beer.

“And then catching up with the descendants of Peregrine Took at Hurst Green Beer Festival.

“I loved the Grand, great vibe. Without digging out my diary I think I’ve also played Cloudspotting twice, and a sports hall near Clitheroe.

Do you have any burning ambitions to fulfil?

“Smouldering at best I think. Very ordinary things that I’ve put aside for the past 30 musical years are now clamouring for my attention.

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“I thought after my year out I’d be raring to jump back on the music bandwagon.

“It would appear not.

“I am without TV, broadband and mobile phone reception.

“I am, however, attending life-drawing classes.

“Living the dream at last, eh?”

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