American singer-songwriter and writer (1952?2015)
Tia Blake
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![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/ab/Tia_Blake.png/220px-Tia_Blake.png) Blake on the cover of her 1971 debut album
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Birth name
| Christiana Elizabeth Wallman
|
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Also known as
| Tia Wallman
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Born
| (
1952-04-13
)
April 13, 1952
Columbus
,
Georgia
, U.S.
|
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Origin
| Paris
, France
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Died
| June 17, 2015
(2015-06-17)
(aged 63)
Pinehurst
,
North Carolina
, U.S.
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Genres
| Folk
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Occupation(s)
| Singer-songwriter, writer, editor
|
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Instrument(s)
| Vocals, acoustic guitar
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Years active
| 1971?1979
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Labels
| Societe francaise de production
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Musical artist
Christiana Elizabeth
"
Tia
"
Wallman
(April 13, 1952 ? June 17, 2015), better known by her stage name
Tia Blake
, was an American singer-songwriter and writer. She was known for her 1971 debut album,
Folk Songs & Ballads: Tia Blake and Her Folk-Group
. Originally released only in France and selling very few copies, it was reissued in 2011 and has been described as a rediscovered lost album. The album gained cult status during the 1990s and 2000s, with comparisons being drawn to musicians such as
Nick Drake
and
Nico
.
Wallman was born in
Columbus, Georgia
, in 1952, and grew up in
North Carolina
. In 1960, during a
custody dispute
, Wallman and her siblings were kidnapped by her CIA-employed father, who was later arrested and fled the country. She later moved to
Paris
, where she formed "Her Folk Group" and recorded her debut album. Wallman performed once at the
Theatre du Vieux-Colombier
with her group, in support of the album, and later recorded a set of demos and rehearsals. She subsequently relocated to
Montreal
where she recorded a selection of songs for
CBC Radio
, which were ultimately rejected, and provided backing vocals for a song by
Daniel Lavoie
.
Wallman later pursued a career as a freelance writer and editor, after graduating from
Smith College
in 1989. She shared her experiences through pieces published under the name Tia Wallman, including a memoir about searching for her father in
Saigon
during the
Vietnam War
in
Granta
. She co-wrote, with her mother, a comedy piece that was performed at the 2007
New York Fringe Festival
. Wallman died at the age of 63 from
breast cancer
in 2015.
Biography
[
edit
]
Christiana Elizabeth Wallman was born in
Columbus, Georgia
, on April 13, 1952,
[1]
and grew up in
North Carolina
;
[2]
she had six siblings.
[3]
Her father, Jack, worked for the
CIA
. In 1960 her parents separated and in the middle of
custody battle
, her father kidnapped Wallman and her siblings for seven months. When they were found, her father was arrested and subsequently fled the country.
[3]
In 1970 she graduated high school and then worked for
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
in
New York City
for six months, before moving to
Paris
.
[2]
There she met and fell in love with Benito Merlino, a Sicilian folksinger, record store owner and record producer.
[4]
She learned to play the guitar
[1]
and spent most of her time at a record shop in the
Latin Quarter
, Disco'The, where she occasionally sang. While at the shop, she met two young guitarists, who were ardent followers of
folk music
and frequent visitors to the shop. They started playing alongside her, thus establishing "Her Folk Group".
[5]
Upon hearing and being enchanted by Wallman's singing voice, Merlino introduced her to his contacts in the record industry.
[4]
She was acquainted with Michel Bachelet and Jean-Paul Smets, respectively the owner and
artists and repertoire
manager of Societe francaise de production (SFP), a small French record label, who invited her to record her debut album,
[1]
at
Pierre Barouh
's Studios Saravah.
[6]
In an afternoon, she recorded an album of public domain
folk songs
and
ballads
under the name Tia Blake,
[4]
with her group supporting her.
[5]
It was released in France, in 1971, as
Folk Songs & Ballads: Tia Blake and Her Folk-Group
, with very few copies produced.
[4]
A month after the album's release, to promote it, Wallman and her group performed at the
Theatre du Vieux-Colombier
. In 1973 she recorded a selection of demos and rehearsals backed by a guitarist named Jack.
[2]
In September 1976, in
Montreal
, where Wallman was then living, she responded to a call from
CBC Radio
for local artists' songs, recording at CBC's studio a demo tape of three originals, including one for her father and another for an old boyfriend. The CBC producer found nothing usable upon playback, returning the tape to her.
[7]
Wallman later provided backing vocals for the song "Boule Qui Roule" on
Daniel Lavoie
's 1979
Nirvana Bleu
album.
[8]
Wallman graduated from
Smith College
in 1989, winning the Elizabeth Drew Writing Prize. Living in
North Carolina
, she became a freelance writer and editor.
[2]
She published, as Tia Wallman, two pieces in
Granta
, the first of which was a memoir about a trip to
Saigon
with her sister, during the
Vietnam War
, to find her father who worked for the CIA, and the second appeared posthumously.
[9]
In 2006, a comedy piece she co-wrote with her mother, Joan Blake, was staged at the 2007
New York Fringe Festival
, lasting for 10 minutes.
[10]
In 2011, her debut album was reissued on CD by Water Music, together with her Paris demos and CBC Montreal recordings.
[11]
Having been described as a rediscovered lost album,
[1]
it started to circulate as a cult record in the 1990s and 2000s.
[4]
Wallman has been compared to
Nick Drake
,
Nico
,
Sibylle Baier
,
Bridget St. John
, and
Vashti Bunyan
.
[5]
Wallman died at the age of 63 from
breast cancer
in
Pinehurst, North Carolina
, on June 17, 2015. She was buried next to her two brothers, Chris and Peter, in
North Hatley
, Quebec, Canada.
[10]
The Tia Blake Collection is held at
Wilson Library
in North Carolina, comprising audio recordings, images, documents, and written works by Wallman.
[2]
Works
[
edit
]
Discography
[
edit
]
- Folk Songs and Ballads: Tia Blake and Her Folk-group
(LP), SFP, Paris, 1971.
- Reissued by Water Music, California, in 2011, together with Paris demos (1973) and CBC Montreal recordings (1976)
- Reissued and remastered by Ici Bientot, Paris, in 2022
- Tia Blake, Paris and Montreal Demos 1973-1976
(EP), Yep Roc Records, 2018.
[12]
Publications
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
"Tia Blake"
.
Record Store Day
. Retrieved
February 5,
2024
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
"Tia Blake Collection, 1956-2019"
.
UNC-Chapel Hill Libraries
. Retrieved
February 5,
2024
.
- ^
a
b
Wallman, Tia (July 14, 2006).
"We Went to Saigon"
.
Granta
. Retrieved
February 7,
2024
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
"Tia Blake And Her Folk-Group ? Folksongs & Ballads"
.
All Night Flight Records
. Retrieved
February 5,
2024
.
- ^
a
b
c
"Folksongs & Ballads, by Tia Blake and her Folk-Group"
.
Bandcamp
. Retrieved
February 5,
2024
.
- ^
"The Best Reissues of 2022"
.
Bandcamp Daily
. December 14, 2022
. Retrieved
February 7,
2024
.
- ^
Weiss, Steven (February 2017).
"Tapes on Open Reels: Tia Blake at the Southern Folklife Collection"
.
Twentieth-Century Music
.
14
(1): 149?151.
doi
:
10.1017/S1478572217000123
.
ISSN
1478-5722
.
- ^
"Daniel Lavoie ? Nirvana Bleu"
.
Discogs
. Retrieved
February 5,
2024
.
- ^
"Tia Wallman"
.
Granta
. Retrieved
February 5,
2024
.
- ^
a
b
"Christiana (Tia) Elizabeth Wallman"
.
PinesFunerals
. June 20, 2015
. Retrieved
February 5,
2024
.
- ^
"Tia Blake And Her Folk-Group ? Folksongs & Ballads"
.
Discogs
. Retrieved
February 5,
2024
.
- ^
"Happy 2019! A look back at 2018"
. Southern Folklife Collection. January 2, 2019.
External links
[
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]
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International
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National
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Artists
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