As of 2023[update] the band is led by ornithologist[2] Brian Briggs as singer, guitarist, and main songwriter, with multi-instrumentalists Jon Ouin and Oli Steadman.

[22] One of the band's first high-profile live appearances was at Radio 1's Big Weekend in 2009, held in Lydiard Park, Swindon,[23] for which they'd been booked on the strength of self-released debut single "Zorbing"; this led to their playing at a number of UK summer festivals later that year (including six sets at Glastonbury festival 2009) and writing a series of articles about their experiences for the Daily Telegraph newspaper.

[24] On 1 September 2009, they played a free concert at Tate Modern, London, supported by Reverend and the Makers, to celebrate the launch of the new climate change campaign 10:10.

[28] In November 2009 Stornoway became the first-ever unsigned band to appear on Later... with Jools Holland, and performed alongside Sting, Norah Jones, Jay-Z, and Foo Fighters.

[29] The attention gained by this appearance led to tens of thousands of views of their homemade YouTube videos, and the band were playlisted on the BBC's national radio stations.

"[11] The band organised three small shows to 300 hometown fans at the A1 Pool Hall in Oxford in Summer 2010, just prior to the launch of their album.

The rest of the year saw the band tour England, North America and, in February 2011, Australia as part of the St Jerome's Laneway Festival.

[43][44][45][46] Following a second successful German tour and their first performances in Italy, Luxembourg and Switzerland, Stornoway spent several weeks in early 2011 at home in Oxford writing towards their second album.

In April it was announced that the band would be returning to Glastonbury for the third year in a row to open the Pyramid Stage on Saturday 25 June, one of their many festival billings for the summer.

Their English homecoming concert for summer 2011 was at London's Somerset House on Saturday 9 July,[47] with support from Cloud Control and orchestral backing from North Sea Radio Orchestra.

Proceeds from the evening, as well those for an auctioned-off Epiphone S-210 signed by all members of the band, went to the Sumatran Orangutan Society, the Earth Trust, and the RSPB.

[53] In September 2013, Stornoway announced a surprise mini-album, You Don't Know Anything, containing outtakes from the Terra Firma album, to be made available exclusively to fans in time for their UK tour to close a successful year.

The album was streamed exclusively by AllMusic,[54] following free downloads of lead single "Tumbling Bay" by Rolling Stone and BBC 6 Music's Lauren Laverne in November.

The EP was released 11 November, followed by a UK tour finishing at the Barbican Centre on 8 December, the band's final show before returning to the studio to prepare their third full album.

[72] They toured and also played several major UK festivals including Moseley Folk & Arts Festival,[73] the 2023 schedule culminating in a performance at O2 Forum Kentish Town with Cor Meibion Gwalia,[74] to launch Christmas single "Excelsior", whose video featured Stornoway fan video contributions: singers stood in front of ash trees at various locations across the UK, singing along to the words of the song which is explicitly about Ash Dieback.

[82] Continuing to expand their ties to choral & classical influences, the band were joined on stage by the Vocal Spokes choir in May,[83] before sharing news of a forthcoming rework of "Excelsior" in collaboration with composer Edward Nesbitt.