Boats: Trawlerman's Song

Vashti Bunyan: Trawlerman's Song

[purchase]

There was a side-bar discussion recently among the SMM authors regarding the fact that very few female artists have been featured on this blog (until now I think Joni Mitchell and Natalie Merchant are the only ones). I don't think this is a big deal. For whatever reason, 85% of my own library is by male artists. I don't begrudge this, and I'm not at all interested in equal opportunity purchasing or listening. However, the discussion did introduce a challenge of sorts. Just for fun, I immediately started searching my iTunes library for a female who sang something about boats!

[Correction:  We've posted a lot more females than I thought!  See comments below.]

Vashti Bunyan is that female. Bunyan's story is actually quite interesting. She recorded a single album, Just Another Diamond Day, in 1970. It was received warmly at the time, but quickly fell out of the public eye and went out of print. Soon after, Bunyan retired from the music business and became a mother, a gardener, and animal keeper. However, during her retirement a quiet but steadily-growing interest began to develop for her work. Her album, difficult to come by for obvious reasons, eventually became a high-priced collectors item - one copy selling on eBay for $2000!

Finally, Just Another Diamond Day was re-released on CD and Vashti Bunyan's fame began to soar among folk and "freak-folk" artists and fans. Devendra Banhart is her most outspoken fan, naming her as one of his most direct influences.

Although she has now released a second CD, coming about 30 years after the first, I would recommend avoiding it and sticking with the original.

Just Another Diamond Day is one of the most melodic and bucolic albums that I own. It is less like listening to a CD and more like wandering through the countryside and happening on a woman sitting on a fence with a guitar singing for her own pleasure, or perhaps for children or her livestock.  Every song is an intimate experience with the artist.