Tunstall: 'Busking made me better musician'

KT Tunstall has revealed that she thinks the time she spent busking in the United States made her a more proficient musician.

The 'Black Horse and the Cherry Tree' singer told The Independent on Sunday that she took up busking in Vermont soon after graduating from university.

"Busking helped my playing a lot. It definitely made me a more aggressive player," she said.

The musician added: "At first I couldn't play standing up, 'cos you learned guitar sitting down, hunched over, staring at what you're doing. My mum used to pop in the pub if I was doing gigs and go, 'Can't you stand up?' '[I said] shut up, mum!' Now I find it hard playing sitting down."

Tunstall has scored three UK top five LPs and six top 40 singles since releasing her debut single False Alarm in 2004.