About a year ago Lucy mentioned that the sister of someone in her office was making a career out of folk music. Well, not a career as in full-time earning-a-living, I guess, since no one does that any more — not out of folk music — but making some recordings and doing some gigs, at any rate. "She's been compared to Alasdair Roberts…" I scoffed, haughtily, "Many are compared, none are comparable." Or something to that effect, probably not as quotable. Music discovery is a one-way street in our relationship, and I wasn't about to start following leads that originated in that office. I forgot this singer's name before I'd even heard it.
Fast forward a few months and I came across this video while browsing some Roberts material on YouTube.
It took four viewings before I could get to the end with eyes still dry. I shared it on Facebook. And you can guess what happened. Not just humble pie, but the whole humble casserole. Guy told me that Olivia Chaney had played, probably more than once, at The Goose is Out within the last year. I banged my head on the nearest door.
It was the best part of a month, which seemed like forever, until I could see Olivia live. She was a last minute substitution on the bill of the End of the Road last September. Delayed interminably by a traffic jam on the A3 (some royal do at Wisley Gardens), I spent a couple of hours fretting that, after all, I was going to miss her set early on the Friday afternoon. By leaving everything in the car, and taking no time to notice where in a field of a few thousand cars I'd left it, I managed to make it to the "Tipi Tent" (it wasn't a tipi) with five minutes to spare before Olivia took the stage. I bought this self-produced CD from her at the end of her set.
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