KT Tunstall brings her magic to Folk Festival

By Daman Singh, August 9 2024—

Scottish singer-songwriter Kate Victoria “KT” Tunstall took the ATB Main Stage on July 27 and put on a wonderful performance for the 45th Calgary Folk Music Festival. One of the first performers on the stage that night, Tunstall had the entire crowd lost in the magic that is her excellence.  

“The environment of these Canadian folk festivals [is] really, really special,” Tunstall told the Gauntlet.

Her performance created a transcending environment where everyone in the audience was lost in the spell of her voice. Tunstall talked about her experience at the festival with the sessions, getting to see and work with artists she hadn’t known of before. 

“[The festivals] just [have] this great kind of catalog of iconic artists who’ve played over the years. And then, whilst I have to admit I find it quite stressful, the sessions are really fun. You just never know, like, whether anybody knows your music. You know, you just don’t know if it’s gonna be great or just be a total mess,” said Tunstall. 

There’s a comfort to being in a crowd full of people united in adoration for a performer, and KT Tunstall was a prime example. While her mainstage performance was the highlight of her time at the festival, Tunstall took on two sessions the following day and they were equally as wonderful — if not more comforting. 

“I get so stressed out about [sessions], because I’m just like, I can never find out like, who I’m on stage with, and I want to, I want to listen to their stuff and know them as artists before I get there,” she said. 

Talking about her session with Margaret Glaspy and NYSSA, Tunstall said the highlight was the session called Emotions and Math, the name of Glaspy’s record.

“We were sort of talking about songs that involve numbers and, you know, and then I don’t know how we got there, but Nyssa ended up playing a cover of “Jump” by Van Halen in a country style, and it was one of the coolest things I’ve ever heard,” she said.

20 years into her career, KT Tunstall has become a household name. Being a solo act, Tunstall talked about how it is a different world in the music industry. 

“When you don’t have a band to bounce off, you bounce off the audience instead,” she said. “I think it forces you to sort of look outward and get input from the crowd.” 

Commenting on the relationship she forms with the audience through her live sets, she mentioned how the imperfect nature of live music is what makes her shows special for her fans. 

“I realized that, after a few years of playing, fans would come after the show, come and say, ‘Hi, My favorite part of the show was when you fucked up,’ ” she said.“[Fans] see a side of you that feels intimate and personal […] that’s just for them.”

Tunstall’s recent 2023 release, Face To Face, is a collab album with Suzi Quatro and it is a 10-track souvenir of brilliance. Tracks like “Scars” and “Illusion” highlight the talents and exceptional mastery of the instruments and voice of both the artists. 

“We would talk more than we would write songs. We would have a conversation for a couple of hours and then sit down and the song would just come out,” Tunstall said.

KT’s music is unapologetically herself, but draws from a number of influences. The biggest of them is Beck, as she discussed the diversity in his discography and how much he had influenced her.

“I didn’t want to be Madonna, I didn’t want to be Whitney Houston, or anything like that. And then when I heard “Loser”, I just went, Oh my God, I want to be like that. I want to be wearing jeans and just playing acoustic and playing with beats,” Tunstall said.

KT Tunstall is a powerhouse of a live performer, one of the few artists that can completely command an audience. 

“Regardless of any label that they want to put on themselves, you get all these people in a room, and you’re bringing people together because of something they have in common, rather than focusing on what your differences are with other people,” she explained.

All of her performances at the festival were a testament to this statement. She brought together a community like no other — which is so important to her as an artist. Tunstall is a performer that brings comfort and joy to everyone that listens to her or gets the chance to watch her.

“Joy is the purpose [of performing], being a purveyor of joy,” she said.

Learn more about Tunstall on her website here.