Kate "KT" Tunstall (born 23 May 1975, Edinburgh) is a Scottish singer-songwriter. Her mother is of Chinese descent, and her father Scottish. Her nickname, "KT", is derived from her initials while also being a pun on a common nickname ("Katie") for the name "Kate". Her style of music varies from the folk genre to the more pop genre. She is from St Andrews, and has studied at Kent School, Connecticut, and at Royal Holloway, University of London. Throughout her 20s, she mostly played in independent bands, and focused on songwriting. She has also written and performed music for children's television shows, but remains secretive as to which shows in particular, preferring her fans to play the guessing game. Her breakout performance was a solo rendition of "Black Horse & The Cherry Tree" on Later with Jools Holland, in which she had 24 hours to prepare for after scheduled performer Nas cancelled due to his father's ill health. Her performance caught the eye of many viewers, upstaging more established acts such as The Cure, Embrace and The Futureheads. Her debut album, Eye to the Telescope, was rereleased shortly after, and shot up the UK charts eventually peaking at 3 (on its first relase it entered at 73) and was nominated for the 2005 Mercury Music Prize. KT has toured extensively since and plans to record another album sometime in 2006. Since her debut appearance on Later With Jools Holland, she has returned to perform Suddenly I See, Under The Weather, Tangled Up In Blue (she performed the same song, as well as Simple Twist Of Fate on a BBC 3 Bob Dylan Tribute) and an Ella Fitzgerald song with Jools Holland on piano. She uses an AKAI headrush loop pedal on stage, which she affectionately calls "Wee Bastard". Due to some of her songs containing ambiguous lyrics, some fans (esp. lesbians) were interested to know whether she is a lesbian also, but she has stated that she is not. Her boyfriend is her drummer Luke Bullen, who was a member of Joe Strummer's band The Mescaleros and has also played for John Squire.
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