"Dubbed Britain's best new band of 2001 and named after Tim Buckley's 1970 album, England's fresh new Britpop band Starsailor carries the influences of Van Morrison and Neil Young with the company of Travis and Coldplay, combining for a killer combination of classic rock-meets-pop music. Starsailor has received international recognition since their conception in 2000, and will continue to do so as long as the hits keep rolling.Starsailor is largely the project of James Walsh, the quartet's outstanding singer/songwriter. Dripping with passion and wrung with emotion, Walsh's songs have become the catalyst to the group's massive success. Fluent in piano by age 12 and a seasoned songwriter by 14, Walsh soaked up every little bit of music he could until he arrived at music college in Wigan in the late 1990s. At Wigan, Walsh made the valuable connection with bass player James Stelfox and drummer Ben Byrne, and the trio dreamt up the makings for what has become Starsailor. Gaining shape and focus with the addition of keyboardist Barry Westhead in 2000, Starsailor played their very first gig at London's Heavenly Social that spring. Immediately garnering a massive fan base, the band released a demo and was snatched up by record label EMI in 2001.Emerging with the hit single ""Fever,"" Starsailor launched a sold-out headlining tour in the U.K., crossing over onto American soil for another tour supporting the Doves. While Starsailor remained a huge crowd-pleaser, it wasn't until 2002 that the British band hit superstar status. 2002's Love is Here reached the coveted number one slot on the Heatseekers chart, also earning a place on the Billboard 200. The album was propelled by the hit single ""Alcoholic,"" and was followed up with 2004's Silence is Easy and 2006's On the Outside. "
