Christine Collister

Christine Collister ranks among the foremost female voices in modern British folk-rock. Her initial notice came through membership in Richard Thompson’s ensemble during the late 1980s and through the subsequent duo she formed with Clive Gregson, previously the frontman of British rock band Any Trouble, yet she has sustained a distinct profile after launching her solo path in 1992.

She first drew wider notice by delivering the theme song for the BBC television series The Life and Loves of a She-Devil. In 1985 she encountered Gregson, then serving as backup guitarist in Thompson’s band, and was promptly enlisted as a harmony singer, remaining with the group through 1988. The opening Gregson & Collister release, the self-recorded cassette Home and Away, was initially sold only at performances before Flying Fish reissued it; their first proper studio album, Mischief, appeared in 1987, succeeded by the entirely original A Change in the Weather in 1989 and the covers set Love Is a Strange Hotel in 1990. Their concluding joint effort, The Last Word, reached stores in 1992.

Since then Collister has maintained a solo trajectory while participating in numerous collaborative ventures. In 1992 she united with Barb Jungr, Michael Parker, and Ian Shaw for the four-part harmony presentation Hell Bent Heaven Bound, which enjoyed a sold-out United Kingdom tour and a crowd-rousing appearance at the Winnipeg Folk Festival in 1993. After further touring alongside Richard Thompson in 1995, she joined the British supergroup Daphne’s Flight, whose other members were Melanie Harrold, Julie Matthews, Helen Watson, and Chris While; the ensemble issued its self-titled album in 1996.

Her first solo recording, the concert document Live, captured a 1994 performance in her hometown. The studio debut Blue Aconite followed in 1996 and included guest contributions from Thompson and Watson. Horizon arrived in 1997. The subsequent release, 1998’s The Dark Gift of Time, enlisted B.J. Cole on pedal steel, Danny Thompson on double bass, Jacqui McShee on vocals, John Surman on bass clarinet and saxophone, and Thompson on electric guitar. Songbird surfaced in early 2000, Equal Love in 2002, and Into the Light in 2003, the last two issued by Topic Records. Home and Love… appeared on the Stereoscout label in 2003 and 2005, respectively. Collister also established a new partnership with blues revivalist Dave Kelly; together with their backing ensemble the Travelling Gentlemen they undertook a 2005 United Kingdom tour, selections from which were compiled on a debut live album issued the following year by Beat Goes On.