{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}} {{BLP sources|date=April 2013}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Christine Collister | image = Christine Collister.jpg | caption = Collister at the Cropredy Festival<br/>Oxfordshire, 12 August 2005 | birth_name = | alias = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1961|12|28|df=y}} | birth_place = Douglas, Isle of Man | death_date = | instrument = Vocals | genre = Folk, blues, jazz, country | occupation = Musician, songwriter, record producer | years_active = 1985-present | label = Topic Records, Fledgling Records | associated_acts = Richard Thompson Band, Clive Gregson, Daphne's Flight | website = {{Nowrap|{{URL|www.christinecollister.com}}}} }}
'''Christine Collister'''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ChristineCollister.com |title=Christine Collister |publisher=Christine Collister |date= |accessdate=2 April 2013}}</ref> (born 28 December 1961) is a Manx folk, blues and jazz singer-songwriter.<ref name="Larkin90">{{cite book|title=The Virgin Encyclopedia of Nineties Music|editor=Colin Larkin|editor-link=Colin Larkin (writer)|publisher=Virgin Books|date=2000|edition=First|isbn=0-7535-0427-8|page=93}}</ref> She was born and grew up on the Isle of Man and first came to public attention in 1986 as the singer of the theme song for the BBC's television adaptation of Fay Weldon's book ''The Life and Loves of a She-Devil''.
==Career== Collister was born in Douglas, Isle of Man.<ref name="Larkin90"/>
In 1985, she joined the Richard Thompson Band as a backing vocalist,<ref>{{cite web|url={{Allmusic|class=artist|id=p65803|pure_url=yes}}|title=Biography: Christine Collister|last=Harris|first=Craig|publisher=Allmusic|accessdate=3 May 2010}}</ref> also singing with Thompson on many songs which had been previously performed as duets with ex-wife and former collaborator Linda Thompson. Collister was a part of this band for four years, contributing vocals on six albums and participating in several world tours. There followed seven years working with singer, songwriter and guitar player, Clive Gregson.<ref name="Larkin90"/> During this period, the couple released five albums,<ref name=TE>{{cite news |title=''Children of the Sea'': Christine Collister's special project brings Manx culture to Cornwall in Acorn show |work=St Ives Times & Echo |issue=5854 |date=8 November 2024 |page=2}}</ref> starting with their first and most successful album, ''Home and Away''. After being unavailable for some years, the albums were re-released on CD around 2010.
Collister has released several solo albums since 1994, including ''Live'', ''Blue Aconite'', ''Dark Gift of Time''<ref name="Larkin90"/> and the compilation CD ''Songbird'' all for Fledgling Records, and ''An Equal Love'' and ''Into The Light'' for Topic Records. She has worked with the Isle of Man-based Stereo Scout Records, part of the Running Media Management Group,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://runningmedia.com |title=Running Media Group |website=Runningmedia.com |date=11 February 2007 |accessdate=2 April 2013}}</ref> with whom she recorded a live album entitled ''Home'' in 2004, and her 20th Anniversary DVD entitled ''XX'' in 2005, plus a series of solo albums including ''Under Construction'' (volumes 1 and 2) and ''Feminine Logic''. Collister also produced an acclaimed vinyl cut for hi-fi manufacturer REGA, entitled ''Love''. The project was a collection of mainly cover songs, including tracks by Jim Croce, Kate Bush and Joni Mitchell, as well as a version of the Leonard Cohen song, "Hallelujah".
In 1996, Collister recorded and toured with the all-female group Daphne's Flight and, in 2017, they celebrated 21 years of Daphne's Flight, regrouping to record and tour around a second album ''Knows Time, Knows Change'' (Fledgling). This led to the recording of a third album scheduled for release in May 2020, with a tour and festival dates already planned.{{Citation needed|date=December 2019}}
Collister has also recorded and toured with the vocal ensemble Hell Bent Heaven Bound and with Dave Kelly with the "Travelling Gentlemen" also featuring Peter Filleul (ex Climax Blues Band) on piano and third harmony. Kelly and Collister have also continued to frequently tour as a duo, including festivals in Canada and the UK.
In 2007, Collister moved from the UK, back to the Isle of Man, and since 2015, has been working and collaborating with Australian guitarist Michael Fix. They recorded an album, ''Shadows and Light'' in 2017, and toured around its release that same year and again in 2018, including Port Fairy, Cobargo and Illawarra festivals in Australia, and a two-week tour in the UK. In October 2019, they released their second album ''North & South'' and embarked on a 15 date tour of the UK, with a further 20 date tour in Australia scheduled for early 2020.
Collister continues to work and record as a solo artist, and as a songwriter including collaborations with Michael Fix, Mike Slamer, Pam Shane, Steve Lima, Rob Laufer, Lindsay Rowe and many others. She remains in demand as a session vocalist, performing on album projects including Lena Anderson's ''Eagle in the Sky'', ''The Parlour Ballads'', and an upcoming album from US artist Brooks Williams. Collister has also contributed lyrics for publication in Playerist Poetry Magazine (ISSN 2048-2515).
She was invited to perform at the Royal Albert Hall in London on 30 September 2019 in a concert celebrating the 70th birthday of Richard Thompson, along with David Gilmour, Martin Carthy, Eliza Carthy, Hugh Cornwell, Olivia Chaney, Maddie Prior, Loudon Wainwright III, Teddy Thompson, Kami Thompson, Danny Thompson, Dave Mattacks, Judith Owen, and many others. Collister proved a highlight of the evening with the ''Financial Times'' reviewer{{fcn|date=January 2021}} reporting " ..best of all perhaps was Thompson and Collister reviving the protest ballad 'Sweetheart On the Barricade'... " and... "Collister with Thompson on 'Ghosts in the Wind' was a thrilling highlight ..."
In 2024, Collister released ''Children of the Sea'', a project of nine original songs and an accompanying book inspired by Manx folklore.<ref>{{cite web |author1=Adam Morton |title=Manx singer-songwriter to launch new UK tour on the Isle of Man |url=https://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/entertainment/manx-singer-songwriter-to-launch-new-uk-tour-on-the-isle-of-man-736879 |website=Isle of Man Today |access-date=24 November 2024 |date=6 November 2024}}</ref> ''Children of the Sea'' was supported by grants from the Isle of Man Arts Council and Culture Vannin and was the focus of Collister's 2024 UK tour.<ref name=TE />
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [http://www.christinecollister.com Christine Collister's Homepage] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20200807095916/http://www.thebeesknees.com/christine-collister-a-complete-discography/ Christine Collister's Discography]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Collister, Christine}} Category:1961 births Category:Living people Category:21st-century Manx musicians Category:Manx musicians Category:People educated at St Ninian's High School, Douglas Category:20th-century Manx musicians Category:Daphne's Flight members Category:Flying Fish Records artists Category:Topic Records artists Category:People from Douglas, Isle of Man