| James Allan | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | James Allan |
| Born | 21 September 1979 |
| Origin | Dalmarnock, Scotland |
| Genres | Indie rock[1] |
| Occupations | Singer-songwriter |
| Instruments | Vocals, guitar |
| Years active | 2003–present |
| Labels | Columbia |
| Associated acts | Glasvegas |
James Allan (born 21 September 1979) is the lead singer and guitarist of the Scottish rock band Glasvegas, and a former footballer.
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Born in in Dalmarnock, Glasgow, he attended the city's St Mungo's Academy.[2] Allan is a lifelong supporter of Celtic. [3]
Allan's cousin is Glasvegas bandmate/guitarist Rab Allan. His sister Denise is the band's co-manager.[4]
Allan played as a winger for Cowdenbeath, East Fife, Queen's Park, Gretna, Stirling Albion and Dumbarton, making 105 appearances in the Scottish Football League.[5] He was part of the Cowdenbeath squad that won promotion as runners up in the 2000–01 Scottish Third Division.
During his football career, Allan decided to write songs and form a band.[6][7] After touring Scotland for several years Glasvegas released four singles, before eventually being signed to Columbia. His songs deal with social issues such as absentee fathers ("Daddy's Gone"), murder ("Flowers & Football Tops") and the challenges of social work ("Geraldine").[8]
On 8 September 2009, bandmates Rab Allan and Paul Donoghue announced that James Allan had been missing since the previous Friday, which resulted in a no-show at the Mercury Prize awards ceremony.[9] However he made a call to the band's manager on the 9 September 2009 that he was safe and well in New York,[10] where Glasvegas were about to embark upon a US tour supporting Kings of Leon. It is thought that the lack of communication sourced from Allan being without a mobile phone for six months, according to fellow bandmates.[11]
Allan cites Elvis Presley and Phil Spector as his main influences.[12] He recently met up with Ian McCulloch, in his home city for a night out. Here, he described the Echo and the Bunnymen frontman as one of his inspirations.[13]
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