Isla St Clair - a little more background

[Iain Laird <Iain.Laird@btinternet.com>]

Isla St Clair
Her first public appearance, at the Aberdeen Folk Club, was at the tender 
age of ten and from that moment Isla proved she had inherited the rich 
singing tradition of her native North-East Scotland. Isla is one of the 
best exponents of Scottish traditional songs and her early recordings of 
the ballads are still used as reference at the School of Scottish Studies.
Isla was soon in the top rank of British folksingers, winning several 
awards including `Best Female Folk Singer', and touring the world. She 
became known to millions for her numerous television appearances which 
included all the top entertainment and chat shows, including The Royal 
Variety Show, The Morcambe and Wise Show and most notably as co-host on the 
BBC's long running The Generation Game which won her `Best Female TV 
Personality'. Her BBC television series The Song and the Story won the 
coveted European award `Prix Jeunesse'. For children's television, Isla 
appeared in such series as Isla's Island for STV, Let's See and The Farm on 
the Hill for the BBC, and Central TV's long running Saturday Show which 
topped the children's television chart for its entire run.
Isla retired briefly from the industry during the late eighties to raise a 
family but her love of singing drew her back into the studios to record the 
songs that have been so much part of her life. Her BBC Series `Tatties & 
Herrin' showed her voice was as strong as ever - The Scotsman newspaper 
wrote "Her singing has acquired a new sense of dramatic emphasis, her 
distinctly warm clear tone and exuberance brings songs to life".
Although the essence of Isla's performances reflect her traditional roots 
in Scotland, her talent has matured to encompass other aspects of the 
entertainment business. Her career has now taken a different and more 
challenging direction. Forming her own production company, Story Shop 
Productions, Isla is co-producing music and films for a wider international 
audience.
Recently she co-produced and sung on the film When the Pipers Play, the 
story of the great Highland bagpipe. The Sunday Times wrote "The powerful 
and evocative voice of Isla St Clair has produced an album and film of 
enchanting and original tunes". The film went on to win four awards at 
international Film Festivals. This was followed by two Special Edition CDs 
of traditional Scottish and English ballads, Royal Lovers & Scandals and 
Murder & Mayhem, both albums received international acclaim and was best 
summed up by Tony Barrell of the Sunday Times Magazine, "This is Scottish 
minstrelling at its best, Isla St Clair's voice is beautifully pure".
Isla continues to be busy producing documentary films, as well as appearing 
on radio and television programmes. Her love of live performance can be 
seen in her one-woman show `An evening with Isla' and she is hosting and 
singing in an exciting new show of Scottish and Irish music called `Celtic 
Legends'.
If you want to know more about Isla's projects visit the feedback form and 
mail us with your enquiry.
For details about the Isla St Clair International Fan Club and all the 
advantages of joining, including free CDs and tour dates, e-mail Remarkable 
Records.

Welcome to The Isla Files
The Isla Files is an audio visual magazine hosted by Isla St. Clair and 
made specially for the new webcasting site Celtic Online TV. By clicking 
onto www.celticonlinetv.com you will, over the coming months, be able to 
watch and listen to interesting material about film making, music and many 
other topics.
On this page you can read about Isla St. Clair and listen to an audio 
sample of The Isla Files. Isla explains why she made the award winning film 
When The Pipers Play.

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