Fife band catch eye of Sir Elton John after covering one of his hits at music festival

Jupiter Strange enjoyed a hugely successful trip to the Lake District for Kendal Calling which featured big names such as Stereophonics, Supergrass and Amy Macdonald.

The Fife band - made up of young musicians from Kirkcaldy and Dunfermline - described it as the gig of their lives.

And they were knocked out when they heard Sir Elton had watched a video of their cover of his 1970s hit Benny & The Jets.

The legendary songwriter, currently on a farewell tour after 50 years in the business, was shown footage of the band delivering a superb version of his classic song at the festival.

They have also been championed by another big name, Tim Burgess, leader of The Charlatans, who put them on the line-up.

But it was a gig which took some time to come - thanks to lockdown restrictions putting all music festivals across the UK on hold for over two years.

Niamh Corkey, keyboards and vocals, said: “We were booked for Kendall Calling in 2020 which didn’t go ahead because of the pandemic.

“We’ve been on the line up for three years!”

She added: “It was amazing - our favourite gig we have played!

Niamh and drummer Lennon Donaldson are former Balwearie High school pupils in Kirkcaldy, with the Dunfermline duo Alfie Ramage (vocals and guitar) and Fraser Ward (guitar) completing the line-up.

They started out gigging at PJ Molloys in Dunfermline, but have since spread their wings.

Their first single ‘I Do’ was featured on BBC Wales and BBC Scotland, where it became ‘Single of the Week’ and they have just released a second one called Cool Factor.

Jupiter Strange played their first gig just one week before lockdown.

“We were just getting going when everything shut down, but we kept writing during lockdown and started up again.” said Niamh.

Their psychedelic pop/rock sound draws on influences such as Crosby Stills Nash and Young, Haim, The Mamas and the Papas and many more, and it proved a huge hit with fans at Kendall Calling.

“Tim Burgess has been a huge support of our music,” explained Niamh,. “He has a stage where he curates the line up and invites band to play

“He invited us down to play at Liverpool Sound City Festival and then asked us to be part of Kendall Calling.

We played on the opening day and as soon as we came off stage we were asked if we wanted to play again on a bigger stage. It was totally amazing - we never expected it.”She added: “It has been mad on Twitter with lots of messages and lots of new followers, as well as folk asking for our photos!”

The band return to Fife to take part in Dunfermline’s Outwith Festival in September before playing at Sneaky Pete’s in Edinburgh on September 10,and they also have a gig in Glasgow.