Vashti Bunyan
Vashti Bunyan British folk chanteuse Vashti Bunyan learned guitar while attending art school, and in 1964 was expelled for spending more time writing songs than painting; through theatrical agent Monte Mackay she soon met Rolling Stones manager/producer Andrew Loog Oldham, and in 1965 signed to Decca to release her debut single, the Mick Jagger/Keith Richards-penned "Some Things Just Stick in Your Mind." The record earned little attention, and Bunyan moved to Columbia for the follow-up, "Train Song"; after recording a handful of unreleased tracks for Immediate she cut ties with Oldham and ostensibly retired from music, leaving London in 1968 in a horse-drawn wagon on a two-year journey to the Hebrides, with the ultimate goal of meeting folk icon Donovan on the Isle of Skye. Throughout her travels Bunyan continued writing songs, however, and in 1969 she teamed with legendary producer Joe Boyd to record her lone full-length LP, the lovely Just Another Diamond Day. After completing the album she left for Ireland, dropping out of music to raise a family. Long out-of-print and a highly-prized collectible, Just Another Diamond Day was finally reissued on CD in the summer of 2000. In 2005 she returned with Lookaftering, a reference to her years "lookaftering" her family. The album appeared on Fat Cat's DiCristina imprint and featured artwork by Vashti's daughter. ~ Jason Ankeny