Multi- award winning Gaelic singer and musician Julie Fowlis reached global success in 2012 by performing on the soundtrack of the Disney/Pixar animation and Hollywood blockbuster ‘Brave’. A trailer for the film, which was broadcast to millions during the Oscar ceremony in March, featured Julie singing a song in Gaelic called ‘Tha Mo Ghaol Air Àird a’ Chuan’. She also recorded two songs for the film – ‘Touch of Sky’ and ‘Into the Open Air’ – in English. Her appearances at premiers, on television and in media interviews publicising the film across the world, had the additional benefit of promoting Scotland and Scottish music to a wide audience.
Julie Fowlis is no stranger to awards and distinctions, winning Gaelic Singer Of The Year & Album Of The Year at the Scots Trad Music Awards 2007 (winning Album of the Year a second time in 2010) and nominated for the three years running as BBC Radio 2 Folk Singer of the Year (the first ever Scottish Gaelic singer to win this prestigious award when given the title in 2008). Her single ‘Blackbird’ was also playlisted on BBC Radio 2, the first Scottish Gaelic artist to be playlisted in such a manner. She was also the first Scottish Gaelic artist to appear on the legendary show ‘Later…with Jools Holland” in 2007.
She is perhaps most proud of her award as Scotland’s Gaelic Ambassador – “Tosgaire na Gàidhlig”, bestowed by the Scottish Parliament in 2008/2009, the first person to ever receive this honour. Julie is a passionate torchbearer for the culture of her native Western Isles. And, coupled with her extraordinary talent, it is this quiet determination to celebrate the music of the Outer Hebrides and Highlands of Scotland on its own terms that ensures that Scots Gaelic music is reaching a wider audience than ever before.