Si Cranstoun

Simon Cranstoun
Born	c. 1976 Caterham, Surrey, England.
Nationality	British
Occupation	Singer

Si Cranstoun (born c. 1976) is a British singer who spent many years as a busker on the streets of London and performed in The Dualers, a Ska band, before becoming widely recognized as a composer and singer of music heavily influenced by 1950s and 1960s Rock and Rhythm and Blues.

Simon Cranstoun was born in Caterham, Surrey. His father, Bill Cranstoun, promoted Jamaican music in the 1960s. Simon and his brother Tyber grew up with Ska and Reggae music. Si also loved 1950s and 1960s rock and R&B music. Because he knew so many songs, he was chosen as singer for his high school band. He began to also write songs at the age of 16. Si and Tyber Cranstoun formed The Dualers, a Ska band. The Dualers became known as buskers in London, and featured on several national news channels. Cranstoun spent 20 years as a street busker in London, and once was given 30p by Prime Minister Tony Blair. The Dualers played with bands that included The Skatalites, Prince Buster, Toots and the Maytals, Ziggy Marley, Jimmy Cliff, UB40 and Madness. They released a number of albums and had several singles in the top 40.

Cranstoun met his wife, Tamu, while singing in Croydon. They have a daughter and a son. He left the Dualers in 2010. He adopted a style that had more Rock or Rhythm and blues. He formed a band which started to get hired to perform in pubs and small venues. He said of the difficulty in getting started, "they just saw me as a reggae artist doing bebop and were a bit like: 'What is he doing here?'" In 2013 he performed with Little Richard in Las Vegas. He was spotted in April that year and signed up with Warner. His single Caught in the Moonlight was shortlisted on the Radio 2 playlist.

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