Jackie Leven

Scottish poet and singer-songwriter. Former lyricist for the punk band Doll By Doll. Has gone by the pseudonyms of John St. Field (for the 1971 album "Control") and Sir Vincent Lone for the 2004 album "Songs For Lonely Americans". As Jackie Leven, he has released 11 albums since his return to music in 1994; one of these, a duet with author Ian Rankin, features an exclusive short story, "Jackie Leven Said".

In the 1980s, Jackie released two singles - Love Is Shining Down On Me and Uptown - under his own name. Unfortunately, this failed to turn into a career as he was the victim of an unprovoked attack in 1983. Strangled and nearly killed, Jackie lost his voice for a year and became addicted to heroin. Conquering his addiction, he set up the CORE Trust, a charity aiming for a holistic approach to drug addiction whose patrons included Princess Diana.

Jackie returned to music in the early 1990s with a series of live shows, before the release of his first new solo album, The Mystery of Love is Greater Than the Mystery of Death, in 1994. Since then, Jackie's songs have followed a dark, gloomy theme - Jackie describes his songs as "saying shit happens" and then helping people to deal with it.

Jackie also reads poems and stories set to music on his albums; examples include the poem "A Blessing" by James Wright on the album Forbidden Songs of the Dying West and the short story "Faces" by Rainer Maria Rilke on Shining Brother Shining Sister. Jackie has collaborated with many poets and authors, including Robert Bly (on more than one occasion) and Ian Rankin, as well as avant-garde musician David Thomas of cult band Pere Ubu.