Julie Fowlis

Artist Description

“Fowlis could be the first Scottish Gaelic crossover star in the making"
-DAILY TELEGRAPH

“sings with mesmerizing beauty and passion."
-WORD MAGAZINE

Bringing centuries old songs from the windswept islands of the Hebrides to a modern audience, Julie remains steadfastly true to her roots in North Uist.
If you haven’t heard her before, be prepared to be surprised by her music and her “breathtaking vocal power”(Folking.com)

BBC Radio host and DJ Mark Radcliffe hails Julie Fowlis’ voice and songs as “enchanting, beguiling and as fascinating as songs by Kate Bush and Björk,” and KT Tunstall described her voice as "formidable and amazingly rhythmic." She is the BBC Radio 2 Folk Singer of the Year for 2008 and in a few short years has taken the music scene by storm, gathering a small army of fans around the world including an impressive list of celebrities including the aforementioned Mark Radcliffe, KT Tunstall plus Ricky Gervais and Phil Selway from Radiohead. In 2007 she was invited to appear on "Later...with Jools Holland" and was a special guest on the critically acclaimed "Transatlantic Sessions" series and has entertained millions of radio listeners around the world with her engaging live sessions and live performances.

She sings in Scottish Gaelic, a language only understood by around 60,000 people, and spends her time touring around the world bringing ancient songs form the Hebridean Islands to new audiences. She is an accomplished musician as well - playing Highland bagpipes, smallpipes, whistles, oboe & English horn.

Recently Julie has had the opportunity to present two flagship music programs on BBC Scotland - the traditional music program "Travelling Folk" and the world music show "Global Gathering". A one hour documentary on Julie and her musical travels, entitled "Julie's Year" was also broadcast by the BBC in 2007. She was awarded both Gaelic Singer of the Year and the Album of the Year at the 2007 Scots Trad Music Awards. She has a clutch of other awards, including BBC Radio 2 Horizon Award 2006 for Best Emerging Artist (the first ever Gaelic Artist to be nominated for such an award) and was also voted Gaelic Singer of the Year 2005 at the Scots Trad Music Awards. She remains the only singer to have won this prestigious award twice.
This is true Gaelic music. Come have a listen.