Up close and personal with Christine
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Christine Collister in reflective mood.
AFTER a 27-year career that has taken her to some of the biggest venues in Britain and abroad, Manx singer Christine Collister is enjoying getting up close and personal with her audience.
Dubbed "one of the finest grown-up vocalists on the planet" by Q magazine, Collister appears in the intimate confines of a house concert in Strathpeffer on Sunday.
Held in private homes with entry typically by donation, house concerts have become an important resource for fans and musicians alike, especially in North America.
However, it is a working environment Collister admits she took a while to get comfortable with.
"A few years ago I did a couple in America and I didn’t enjoy them at all," she revealed.
"I think it was because I wasn’t that confident with people at the time and it felt intrusive. Now I love it — age has a positive effect!"
Collister, whose parents met as musicians in a skiffle group, was just six years old when she decided she wanted to be a singer.
When she left school at 16, she joined a local trio, then a rock band, and when she decided to see if she could make a name for herself in the UK, friends found a support slot playing at folk clubs in the north-west.
There she was spotted by an engineer working for Manchester’s Picadilly Radio, leading to an offer of a regular spot on the station’s Nightbeat show.
"It was the first radio station to get a 24-hour franchise and the Musicians’ Union still had teeth in those days, so one of the stipulations was that 10 per cent of their
music had to be live," Collister explained.
"They had five Nightbeat musicians who sang one or two songs a night. It was a really interesting experience, basically just singing to a door."
It was while living in Manchester that she formed a personal and musical partnership with Clive Gregson, formerly of the band Any Trouble, and also joined Gregson in the backing band for British folk-rock’s founding father Richard Thompson.
"I had no idea who Richard was, but I think he rather enjoyed that, because I wasn’t fazed about working with him," Collister revealed.
Collister, who is still a regular Thompson collaborator, also found national attention when she sang the theme from the BBC series "The Life and Loves of a She-Devil", while her partnership with Gregson produced five acclaimed albums.
However, do not expect to hear any of those songs on Sunday.
"It was very difficult for me to break up professionally with Clive," she said.
"It all went horribly wrong and it was quite difficult in the last couple of years. I didn’t want to sing these songs again because they were so painful."
She eventually found the nerve to stand up on her own, helped in part by her old friend Richard Thompson who offered her a place on his tour with the bassist Danny Thompson.
Having worked with such feted songwriters as Thompson and Gregson, since going solo Collister has also taken up the pen
herself.
"If only I could say it’s rubbed off on me," she laughed.
"It’s taken me a long time to consider myself a songwriter. I’m still a singer first and foremost, but I think I’m a good wordsmith and I love a good melody."
A typical set will involve half written or co-written by Collister and the rest chosen basically because she likes them.
"Including the records with Clive, I’ve put out 21 albums so there’s a fair well of songs to pick from," she said.
"And I talk to the audience as well — we have conversations! It’s a lot of fun."
Christine Collister appears at the Square Wheels House Concert in Strathpeffer at 7.30pm on Sunday 29th May.
For further information call 01997 421000.
