A native of Fife, James Yorkston was an integral early member of the Fence Collective, a collaborative group of musicians including King Creosote, The Aliens, KT Tunstall, The Beta Band and The Pictish Trail.

[3] 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.

Yorkston's solo career began when John Peel played a demo of his "Moving Up Country, Roaring the Gospel", proclaiming it had the best song title of the year.

Pete Paphides of The Times wrote, "Yorkston has reached a state of grace that writers can spend forever trying to attain: songs that sound not so much written as carefully retrieved from your own subconscious, played with an intuition bordering on telepathy.

[14] The follow-up, The Year of the Leopard (2006), was produced by Rustin Man, who had recently worked with Beth Gibbons (lead singer with the band Portishead) on their Out of Season record.

Drowned in Sound said, "Yorkston's voice is red-wine warm and perfectly at ease with itself, filling each track to the brim with understated honesty",[16] while Alexis Petridis, writing in The Guardian, said, "this is music that slowly charms rather than immediately stuns you, taking time to work its way under your skin.

[18] Also in 2007, Domino Records released Roaring the Gospel, a collection of EP tracks, overseas releases and new songs, which led the NME to observe that "Yorkston has talent as deep as a mine shaft",[19] while the BBC website said, "Yorkston and his Athletes bathe their songs with warmth, allowing them to nestle snugly in a lush bed of tenderly plucked acoustic guitars, sighing woodwind and gently wheezing accordion.

[27] In 2012, the Big Eyes Family Players released a follow-up album entitled Folk Songs II on Static Caravan Recordings, featuring a variety of guest vocalists including Yorkston, Alasdair Roberts and Adrian Crowley.

In August 2012, Domino Records released Yorkston's seventh album, I Was a Cat from a Book, which was co-produced by the Welsh singer David Wrench and features a guest appearance by Kathryn Williams.

Released in August 2014, it was produced by Alexis Taylor of synth-pop band Hot Chip, and featured special guests KT Tunstall and The Pictish Trail, amongst others.

[36] Yorkston also began running his folk club Tae Sup wi' a Fifer,[37] in Kirkcaldy, Fife, featuring guests such as Martin Carthy, Alexis Taylor, Dick Gaughan, Richard Dawson, Bill Wells and Aidan Moffat, Karine Polwart, Lisa O'Neill, Steve Mason, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Brìghde Chaimbeul, Malcolm Middleton, Ian McMillan, Ian Rankin, Horse McDonald and Phill Jupitus.

[41] His ninth album, The Route to the Harmonium, recorded in the small Scottish fishing village of Cellardyke and co-produced by David Wrench, was released on 22 February 2019, via Domino to mostly positive reviews.

The softly picked and swept guitars spread their roots deep into his musical heritage, while the songs he sings tell tales that feel passed through the generations, even in their deeply personal nature."

"[47] The post's description said the track was "from the forthcoming album 'The Great White Sea Eagle,' which was released 13th Jan 2022 on Domino Record Co., credited to "James Yorkston, Nina Persson & The Secondhand Orchestra.

[50] The tale of a failed artist returning home to Scotland from London, the book was praised by The Scotsman as being, "a subtle, insightful and occasionally very funny look at the way small rural communities can sometimes smother their own, pushing people away while simultaneously pulling them back, demanding success while at the same time secretly hoping for failure.