Terry St Clair is a British folk

Folk music

Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....

 musician

Musician

A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....

, guitarist

Guitarist

A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...

 and composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

.

Background

As a child St Clair demonstrated his desire to become a musician. He would try to play anything that could produce a tune. He grew up alongside his elder brother Ian Sharrott, who was also interested in music, but who chose to pursue a career in computers.

St Clair and his family moved to Hinckley

Hinckley

Hinckley is a town in southwest Leicestershire, England. It has a population of 43,246 . It is administered by Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council...

, Leicestershire

Leicestershire

Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...

 in 1953. His parents encouraged his love of music, arranging for piano lessons at the age of nine. He also practised his singing skills as a member of the local church choir, where he also played the church organ.

He was educated at Hinckley Grammar School, and it was at a school concert that older pupil Geoff Richardson performed the folk blues of Bert Jansch

Bert Jansch

Herbert "Bert" Jansch was a Scottish folk musician and founding member of the band Pentangle. He was born in Glasgow and came to prominence in London in the 1960s, as an acoustic guitarist, as well as a singer-songwriter...

 and Jackson C. Frank

Jackson C. Frank

Jackson Carey Frank was an American folk musician.-Early life:When Jackson Frank was 11, a furnace exploded at his school, sending a ball of flames down corridors until it ended up in Frank's music classroom in the Cleveland Hill Elementary School in Cheektowaga, New York...

, inspiring St. Clair to take up the guitar

Guitar

The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...

. His first guitar was home-made, and hardly stayed in tune.

Whilst working at the local printers W. Pickering and Sons. he and friends Pete Thomas and Mervin Wallace took over the running of the Bar W Folk Club in Barwell.

Early career

After he left school, worked as an apprentice book-binder, enrolling at the Matthew Bolton College in Birmingham

Birmingham

Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...

. During this five year period he spent most of his time playing guitar and singing in local folk clubs. St Clair started to write songs during this period. The first being "You Don't Need Me", written for a friend who used heroin and died in 1993. "You Don't Need Me" was not recorded until 1994, on Basically.

In 1968 St Clair met Toni Savage. Savage was a local folk club organiser and agent. He ran a private press from his work shop in Leicester

Leicester

Leicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...

, where he printed and published material for Spike Milligan

Spike Milligan

Terence Alan Patrick Seán "Spike" Milligan Hon. KBE was a comedian, writer, musician, poet, playwright, soldier and actor. His early life was spent in India, where he was born, but the majority of his working life was spent in the United Kingdom. He became an Irish citizen in 1962 after the...

 among others. Savage supported St Clair's career, and booked him into folk clubs and concerts around the country. St Clair's television debut was on ITV's New Faces

New Faces

New Faces was a British television talent show popular in the 1970s and 1980s, presented originally by Derek Hobson. It was produced by ATV Network Limited for the ITV Network. The first run of the show was from 29 September 1973 to 2 April 1978 and was recorded at the ATV Centre, Birmingham...

on his birthday in 1974, singing one of his own songs, "So Many Empty Mornings'". That same year he headed south for London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 and a professional life as a singer-songwriter, playing in wine bars and restaurants.

In 1977 St Clair moved back to the Midlands

English Midlands

The Midlands, or the English Midlands, is the traditional name for the area comprising central England that broadly corresponds to the early medieval Kingdom of Mercia. It borders Southern England, Northern England, East Anglia and Wales. Its largest city is Birmingham, and it was an important...

, got married, and had a daughter Anna (born 1978). He also took a job as a sales representative with a record distributor. During this period he formed a folk-rock band called Millstone Bill with old friend Steve Southorn; they played pub and club venues around the Midlands. St Clair was still writing songs and the band performed most of the material.

1980 to present

St Clair's marriage broke up in 1980, and he moved back to London, first working as a driving instructor for BSM

RAC plc

RAC Limited is a breakdown company in the United Kingdom supplying products and services for motorists. Initially formed as the "Associate Section" of the Royal Automobile Club, it was incorporated as R.A.C. Motoring Services Ltd. in 1978. It was then sold by the members of the Royal Automobile...

 where in 1981 he met Kim his current partner and Sarah Kim's daughter. St Clair now says he has two daughters - Anna and Sarah.

Between 1982/84 St Clair travelled extensively around Europe. Initially by hitch-hiking to France, Italy and Greece. St Clairt set up home in North London; by this time being booked to play in Italy, Holland and the Republic of Ireland

Republic of Ireland

Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

 as well as all over the UK.

Street Theatre became popular and St Clair enjoyed this freedom to perform in towns and cites throughout Europe. It was during this period that he performed alongside comedians such as Eddie Izzard

Eddie Izzard

Edward John "Eddie" Izzard is a British stand-up comedian and actor. His comedy style takes the form of rambling, whimsical monologue and self-referential pantomime...

, Sarah Crow and Ann Bryson (then known as the Flaming Hamsters). Not between Two and Five St Clair's first album came out in 1985. Financed by businessman Nelson King; recorded and produced by Bob Lamb at his studio at Kings Heath

Kings Heath

Kings Heath is a suburb of Birmingham, England, five miles south of the city centre. It is the next suburb south from Moseley on the Alcester Road.-History:...

, Birmingham

Birmingham

Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...

, it has now sold well in excess of 60,000 copies. Keyboards and arrangement were by Phil Johnstone

Phil Johnstone

Phil Johnstone is a songwriter, keyboardist, guitarist and record producer, best known for his work with singer Robert Plant. His songwriting credits include Plant's number-one Mainstream Rock hits "Heaven Knows", "Tall Cool One" and "Hurting Kind ".- Details :Johnstone first worked with Plant on...

.

St Clair continued to write songs and perform throughout the 1980s, gaining bigger audiences. He played at a Barry Manilow

Barry Manilow

Barry Manilow is an American singer-songwriter, musician, arranger, producer, conductor, and performer, best known for such recordings as "Could It Be Magic", "Mandy", "Can't Smile Without You", and "Copacabana ."...

 concert at Blenheim Palace

Blenheim Palace

Blenheim Palace  is a monumental country house situated in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England, residence of the dukes of Marlborough. It is the only non-royal non-episcopal country house in England to hold the title of palace. The palace, one of England's largest houses, was built between...

, and in 1988 St Clair performed to 5000 people at the Festival of Voices in the Wembley Conference Centre

Wembley Conference Centre

Wembley Conference Centre was a conference centre near Wembley Stadium, Wembley, in London, England.-History:Opened in 1977, it was the first purpose built Conference Centre in the UK. Events included conferences, corporate hospitality, annual general meetings, banquets and sports events including...

.

His second album, From the Little Back Room was released in 1991, having taken eighteen months to record. The production and arrangements using electronic sequencing and samples were all completed by St Clair. In 1994 St Clair recorded Basically... Terry St. Clair, his first completely acoustic album. In 1997 St Clair was approached by an American record label, to record a new album in New York

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, although the deal ultimately fell through. At this time st Clair performed in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 for the first time. St Clair was introduced to music journalist John Tobler

John Tobler

John Hugen Tobler is a British rock music journalist, writer, occasional broadcaster, and record company executive.With Pete Frame, he was one of the founders of ZigZag magazine in April 1969...

 by Dave Cousins

Dave Cousins

Dave Cousins has been the leader, singer and most active songwriter of Strawbs since 1967.-Career:...

 of the Strawbs.

St Clair's next release, Black White was recorded and released on his own label, having been recorded at the Denton Studios in Chiswick

Chiswick

Chiswick is a large suburb of west London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It is located on a meander of the River Thames, west of Charing Cross and is one of 35 major centres identified in the London Plan. It was historically an ancient parish in the county of Middlesex, with...

.

St Clair's composition "Different World" was used in ther soundtrack

Soundtrack

A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...

 to the film Iffy; whilst "If I Fall in Love with You" was in the Mike Binder

Mike Binder

Mike Binder is an American film director, screenwriter, producer and actor.-Life and career:A native of Detroit, Mike Binder grew up in Birmingham, one of the city's suburbs, and attended Camp Tamakwa, which formed the basis for his 1993 film Indian Summer...

 film, The Upside of Anger

The Upside of Anger

The Upside of Anger is a 2005 American romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Mike Binder and set in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan...

.
In January 2011 Terry released his fifth album titled Hard Times and other Riddles. Its a collection of contemporary and traditional folk song.

Terry continues to perform throughout the United Kingdom and Europe.

Discography

• 1985: Not Between Two and Five
• 1991: From the Little Back Room
• 1994: Basically... Terry St. Clair
• 1997: Black White
• 2011: Hard Times and other Riddles

External links

• The official site of Terry St Clair
• Cast and crew for Iffy film IMDB retrieved 4 September 2010