Vashti Bunyan

The music industry has somewhat of a reputation for its cruel unpredictability. It has swallowed up many amazingly talented musicians and spit them into obscurity. Vashti Bunyan is one musician who unfortunately faced this predicament. Her first album was released in 1970 and it was the only release her career saw until her heavily anticipated follow up “Lookaftering”. This came out 35 years later!
Thank god she eventually established a cult following strong enough to persuade her to put out this release. She only has two albums out right now, but they are masterpieces. What she lacks in quantity she more than compensates for originality and quality. Her debut album Just Another Diamond is probably one of the most important releases in folk music history. Although it doesn’t even come close to holding a light in terms of popularity to the albums it was influenced by such as “The Freewelin‘ Bob Dylan” its impact is probably just as strong. Many innovative artists involved in the burgeoning “Freak Folk” scene such as Joanna Newsom, Devandra Banhart and Animal Collective owe a great deal to the influence of her style. All of these artists have come to collaborate with Bunyan, some on her Lookaftering album and some on their own releases. The inspiration of her music has even crept into the hearts of more popular acts like Death Cab for Cutie. The group’s lead singer Ben Gibbard would cover her hauntingly beautiful “Train Song” with Feist.
The instrumentation on both live and recorded offerings are absolutely breathtaking. The somber string swells, the organic sound of the mellotron and the playful flute all bring to mind the work of Nick Drake and this is quite understandable. Nick Drake’s string arranger Robert Kirby lent a helping hand to the production of Bunyan’s first album. While Bunyan’s live shows are fairly stripped down, they are equally captivating as her recorded music. She will sometimes play alone and at other times play with the assistance of a couple extra musicians (quite often with a flute player). The competing counter melodies and mesmeric chord changes instantly captures any listeners attention and does not let go until the final note. Rumor has it that Bunyan has another album due in 2014, and possibly an accompanying tour. Provided the notoriety of the infrequency of her live performances it would be an absolute crime to miss her in concert.