Meet some more of our stars
This week I have three famous musicians for you who put Paisley on the map.
All different with different stories, but all of them have contributed immensely to the Paisley music scene.
Carol Laula rose from a young unknown Paisley girl to a household name in Scotland.
Carol first captured the attention of the media when, in 1990, her independent single Standing Proud was chosen to represent Glasgow in its year of culture.
Since then all five of her albums – Still, Precious Little Victories, Naked, First Disciple and To Let – have been released to high critical acclaim, as well as propelling her to the forefront of the Scottish music industry.
Carol’s reputation has also grown internationally over the years. She was even invited to perform at
New York’s famous Carnegie Hall alongside Mary Chapin Carpenter and Sarah McLachlan at the very first all female singer-songwriter concert.
Carol is one of Paisley’s best known exports and one of its finest singer-songwriters. She has been described as having a style that bobs around somewhere between the smooth, clear delicacy of Karen Carpenter and the tougher edges of Joan Armatrading.
The same decade saw Carol team up with Stuart Adamson to produce a series of songs that will no doubt be seen as a legacy to the talent of the late Big Country singersongwriter.
Carol has also collaborated with Jane Weidlin of the Go-Gos, Ryan Hedgecock of Lone Justice and Australia’s Cheryl Beattie.
The noughties shaped up to be another busy decade for her. As well as touring new areas such as Iceland, she has performed across the UK and Ireland with
Eliza Gilkyson and she appeared at Glastonbury - something of a highlight, when she not only shared the bill with Billy Bragg, but met her hero, Tony Benn.
With eight albums under her belt, the most recent The Bones of It (Vertical Records) released in February 2016, she still stirs critics to describe her as “one of Scotland’s leading singer-songwriters” and “an undeniably passionate and wholehearted singer”.
Born Jacqueline McKinnon, Jaqueline first came to prominence by winning the television talent contest Opportunity Knocks on four occasions under the name
Keli Brown and was subsequently signed by Pye Records in 1976.
She then became Kelly Marie and her song Feels Like I’m In Love hit the number one spot but after two weeks at the chart summit, Kelly Marie was dethroned by the Police hit Don’t Stand So Close To Me.
Feels Like I’m in Love would go on to spend four months on the British chart, selling more than 500,000 copies and earning Kelly Marie a gold disc award.
Roll on to 2002 and another talent show.
David Sneddon is famous for winning Fame Academy with 3.5 million votes.
He is now a talented singer songwriter.
David studied music at school, won several talent competitions and played lead roles in musicals both at school and at PACE Youth Theatre.
When his parents bought him a piano he discovered he had a talent for writing songs and taught himself to play.
He works with James Bauer
Mein as The Nexus, writing and producing for high-profile and highly anticipated emerging artists in the US and the UK.