NO REGRETS FOR CHRISTINE

Christine Bovill has no regrets at turning her back on teaching and moving into showbiz.
And it was fate that changed the Glasgow-born performer’s life when the French-hating student was handed a vinyl recording by Edith Piaf.
The rest his history. Christine became obsessed with all things French. She completed a five-year languages degree, went into teaching and then, this year, launched her full-time showbiz career.
Former pupils are now contacting her for tickets to her show on August 29 at The Acoustic Music Centre @ St Bride’s during the Fringe.
Looking back, the performer admitted: “I was an eccentric teenager, nowhere more than in my musical tastes.
“I used to collect records from the 30s and 40s, old jazz, blues, big band.
“It made for a lonely adolescence but it gave me a foundation that would shape my journey as a singer.
"I hated French at school. My teacher hated me as much as I hated him, sitting me in a row-of-four all on my own.
“I was in my fourth year of Ordinary grade French when an old friend of the family handed me a vinyl of a singer called Edith Piaf.
Who? French? No way.
“Ah, but was told that I must listen to the second track on side A, sung in English.
“A song called No Regrets. The voice instantly plugged into my DNA like nothing before or since. Very quickly, I grew obsessed with all things French - simply from listening to this album.
“A fateful moment, which eventually lead me to university where I completed a five year languages degree, lived in France, sang in Paris, and toured with my one-woman homage to the great French star!"
While still studying, Christine got her first professional singing job, a residency in one of Glasgow's most popular jazz venues, The Inn On The Green.
There she spent several years polishing her take on the standards of the American songbook, penning, along the way, a "musicography" of Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald.
It was in The Inn On The Green that she first performed her Piaf show and she said: “Soon after, I found myself singing Piaf in Paris.
“The response was astounding and the novelty of Une Petite Piaf Ecossaise charmed the audience.
“After graduating, still determined to pursue a career in singing, I took a detour and entered the teaching profession.
“I spent the next few years in various Glasgow schools, teaching English and French. While managing to combine both careers for some time, it was only after taking up writing and recording my first solo album this year that I finally took the leap and left teaching altogether.
"I had become so used to the security of the pay check, and I loved the many challenges and rewards of teaching teenagers, but knew that it was now or never. I could not give a music career my all if I were still to commit to the day job.
“My restlessness and frustration pushed me off the ledge, and so, here I am, out there - singing, writing, playing - and loving every moment!!!
“Former pupils are now contacting me online, looking for tickets!?
The response in a short time has been so encouraging that I know I have taken the right path - the only path for me!"