Starsailor are from Chorley, in north west England. Bassist James Stelfox and drummer Ben Byrne had formed a band in the late nineties, Waterface, but when their regular singer fell ill, they recruited young singer songwriter James Walsh from a school choir. Long time friend Barry Westhead joined on keyboards, and having tried a number of guitarists without success, Walsh took up the guitar. The band changed their name to Starsailor (after Tim Buckley’s 1970 album of the same name) and signed with EMI in 2000. First single “Fever” was released the following year, with 2 B-Sides “Love Is Here” and “Coming Down”, all 3 tracks cut from demo recording session in mid 2000, it rose to number 18 on the UK Singles chart. Second single "Good Souls", released in April 2001, featured a cover of Van Morrison's “The Way Young Lovers Do” as the B-Side, and made number 12 in the UK, with third single “Alcoholic” reaching number 10. Debut album “Love Is Here” (October 2001) climbed to number 2 in the UK Album chart, but this success was not matched by fourth single “Lullaby” (number 36 in the UK Singles chart), or “Poor Misguided Fool” (number 23).

Starsailor’s second album “Silence is Easy” was recorded in Los Angeles, with the first single of the same name charting at number 9 in the UK, and single “Four To The Floor” topping the charts in France, and making number 24 in the UK. The album emulated “Love Is Here” by also climbing to number 2 in the UK Album chart on its release in September 2003.

Producer Rob Schnapf was employed for third album, and the group relocated to Los Angeles to record it. Entitled “On The Outside”, a statement of their position in the music industry, it was released in October 2005, and made number 13 on the UK Album chart, producing 2 UK Top 30 hits, “In The Crossfire” (number 22) and “This Time” (number 24), and ”Keep Us Together”, which peaked at number 47.