Starsailor
The North West England band of James Walsh, whose debut Love Is Here (2001) reached 2 in the UK and whose fifth single was "Poor Misguided Fool".
From Waterface to Chrysalis
Starsailor took its name from Tim Buckley's 1970 album Starsailor, having first been called Waterface. Origins are given variously as Warrington (Wikipedia's infobox), Wigan (MusicBrainz) and Chorley, where James Walsh lived. Stelfox and Byrne had played together in Warrington for years and met on a music course at Wigan and Leigh College. When their singer fell ill they recruited Walsh, who told Songwriting Magazine that he stepped in for a sick singer at a college end-of-term concert in Wigan. Barry Westhead joined on keyboards in early 2000, they played their first gig in April 2000, and Drowned in Sound says they were signed to EMI and Chrysalis within three months, though the Love Is Here article gives July 2001 for the signing. An NME writer's positive review of a 2000 London show started a bidding war among labels.
In 2001 the singles "Fever" and "Good Souls" brought a first British headline tour and a Top of the Pops appearance. Love Is Here (October 8, 2001) reached 2 in the UK and platinum, and NME ranked it the fifth best album of 2001. Silence Is Easy (September 15, 2003) debuted at 2 with 54,296 first-week copies, with Phil Spector producing two tracks, the title track and "White Dove". Pitchfork called it melodramatic, overproduced, but not altogether unpleasant. On the Outside (October 17, 2005) reached 13, recorded in Los Angeles to tape without editing software, and All the Plans (March 2009) reached 26 with Ronnie Wood playing, per Walsh. Wikipedia counts ten UK Top 40 singles.
Touring and return
In 2006 they replaced Amy Winehouse on the Rolling Stones' A Bigger Bang tour in Munich and Hamburg, toured North America supporting James Blunt, and opened for the Stones again in 2007, and played for The Killers in Argentina and Chile in November 2007. A hiatus after All the Plans, reported in November 2009, saw Walsh start a solo project; the reunion was announced on May 23, 2014, with first shows that July. Good Souls: The Greatest Hits came out on September 18, 2015 (UK 157), All This Life on September 1, 2017 on Cooking Vinyl (UK 23) and Where the Wild Things Grow on March 22, 2024 (UK 25).
The official site promotes a Love Is Here 25th Anniversary Edition on vinyl and two CDs, remastered by Geoff Pesche at Abbey Road, and a Starsailor with Strings tour in October 2026; Starsailor with Strings: Live from Liverpool was recorded at the Tung Auditorium at the University of Liverpool with an ensemble conducted by Joe Duddell and includes a cover of Lennon's "Jealous Guy". Walsh cites Jeff Buckley, Tim Buckley, Neil Young and Van Morrison, and writes all the lyrics. Hard Rock named them Philanthropic Artist of the Year on May 20, 2009.
Albums
- Love Is Here 2001 · Chrysalis
Their debut, recorded over six weeks at Rockfield, with a hidden track at the end of the last song.
Songs
- Poor Misguided Fool Love Is Here · 2002
The fifth and final single from Love Is Here, released March 18, 2002.
Sources
- Starsailor (band), Wikipedia
- Silence Is Easy, Wikipedia
- Starsailor, Songwriting Magazine
- Starsailor with Strings, Starsailor