THREE of Scotland’s leading singer/songwriters will be performing at the Eastgate Theatre tonight (Jan 15).

James Yorkston, The Pictish Trail and Withered Hand are on tour together and share the stage for this special performance.

Active in the world of visual art and dabbling in music for many years, Dan Willson (Withered Hand) came late to singing and songwriting at age 30, in a period of reflection between the death of a close friend and the birth of his first child. The resultant material, much of which went on to become the album Good News, was praised for its depth and startling honesty, and won him accolades from the likes of Rolling Stone and Mojo, as well as fans from Jarvis Cocker to Marc Riley. The ensuing years saw him embraced by Fife-based musical powerhouse the Fence Collective and his songs picked up by MTV and cult series Skins.

A prolific live performer, recent Withered Hand shows have included Pam Berry of seminal 90s US noisepop band Black Tambourine (who also contributes vocals to the new album) amid a rotating cast of musical friends embellishing Dan’s exuberant and original songwriting, alongside his fragile and uplifting solo performances.

 Aided by a grant from arts council body Creative Scotland, New Gods saw Withered Hand entering a proper studio for the first time to work with legendary Scottish producer Tony Doogan (Belle & Sebastian, Mogwai, Mountain Goats, Teenage Fanclub), and features the core WH New Gods band: Alun Thomas, Malcolm Benzie, Pam Berry, Fraser Hughes and Peter Liddle. Guest appearances from a veritable who’s who of Scottish music include: King Creosote, Eugene Kelly of The Vaselines, and members of Belle & Sebastian (Stevie Jackson, Chris Geddes) and Frightened Rabbit (Scott Hutchison).

Johnny Lynch, aka The Pictish Trail, is something of a conundrum. On first impressions, he’s a self-deprecating hairy hobo whose on-stage banter could give many comedians a run for their money. But once he begins to sing, Lynch’s extraordinary vocals reveal hidden depths that can subdue the most rowdy of audiences into a blissfully hypnotised silence.

With two albums, numerous mini-albums, EPs, and singles under his belt as The Pictish Trail, Lynch has also moonlighted as one half of demented dance-pop duo Silver Columns with Adem (Fridge) for their 2010 album Yes and Dance.

It’s this innovative, genre-defying approach that’s seen him mentioned in the same breath as his heroes Beck, The Beta Band and Hot Chip. He even joined the likes of Jarvis Cocker, Franz Ferdinand and Charlotte Gainsbourg as part of the line-up for Beck’s Song Reader live concert in London in 2013.

James Yorkston was one of the original members of The Fence Collective, part of the Fife music scene that spawned King Creosote, KT Tunstall, The Pictish Trail & The Beta Band. Since 2001 James has been signed to Domino Records (Artic Monkeys, Franz Ferdinand) with whom he has released eight albums proper and dozens of EPs, compilations, 7” singles and one exceptionally fine book, It’s Lovely to be here – The Touring Diaries of a Scottish Gent.

A much respected figure in the music world, James has been featured twice on BBC2’s The Culture Show and had a documentary on him aired on Channel 4.

The trio will share each others songs and have a laugh and a blether during the two sets of 1hr and 1hr 15mins. The first set gets underway at 7.30pm.

Tickets are priced £15, £13, £5 for schoolchildren.