In 1994, the singer / songwriter with Skuobhie Dubh Orchestra and Khartoum Heroes realised that an increasing number of his songs were either not folky / bluegrassy enough for the Dubhs, or had too few chords for the Heroes. King Creosote crowned himself to bring to the world - "songs with relatively few chords in a non-bluegrass style", except in those cases where "this song is an over-elaborate bluegrass ditty". In 2004, KC live might, fully clothed, only sport the accordion, with some rare guitar / banjo / box-playing from Pip Dylan of Spain, naturist and ogre of beauty.

King Creosote maintains that the song is more important than the style, and that the performance outweighs recording quality. If a part can't be recorded in one take, scrap it for something simpler. No sample should be longer than four seconds, and although samples should be in tune or in time, not necessarily both. King Creosote detests noodling virtuoso, and thus has a go on whatever instrument is at hand. Anyway, duff tunes strengthen the songs on either side. A KC album starts at the beginning, and don't finish 'til the end - by design. Except where they start in the middle and grow out of control. KC is still unknown outside of his small coastal village.