James Yorkston, Sarah Hayes (1), Sara Kazmi

James Yorkston is a Scottish folk musician, singer-songwriter and author. A native of Fife, James Yorkston was an integral early member of the Fence Collective whose reach across contemporary music continues to lengthen: King Creosote, The Aliens, KT Tunstall, The Beta Band and The Pictish Trail. Yorkston is primarily a singer-songwriter, although he also tackles a variety of traditional songs, learned from singers such as Anne Briggs, Dick Gaughan, Nic Jones, Martin Carthy, Lal Waterson, John Strachan and Adrian Crowley. His quoted main influences are Anne Briggs, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Michael Hurley, Can and the Malagasy D'Gary.

Supported by Sarah Hayes and Sara Kazmi.

Sara Kazmi and Sarah Hayes first met as part of the 2015 Highlight Arts project 'Glasgow to Lahore', which brought together poets and musicians from both cities to create and share new work. The pair have since developed their music and friendship through performances at Alchemy, Celtic Connections, Lahore Literary Festival, Edinburgh International Book Festival, Scottish International Storytelling Festival and a two-week residency at The Glad Cafe. Sara and Sarah's arrangements of songs, tunes and poetry from their respective traditions - coupled with their unique blend of voices - make for a very special collaboration. With Sara now resident in the UK, they are excited to get working on brand new material to debut at Celtic Connections 2018.