 Following the announcement of Vashti's taking part in January's 'Way To Blue' series of concerts celebrating Nick Drake's legacy, we can now announce a string of Vashti's own UK headline shows in the Spring. The six dates are Vashti's first in the UK for quite some time.
The full list of shows runs as follows:
20 JAN UK GLASGOW CELTIC CONNECTIONS
21 JAN UK BRIGHTON DOME
22 JAN UK LONDON BARBICAN
23 JAN UK WARWICK ARTS CENTRE
15 Mar JAPAN TOKYO BILLBOARD LIVE TOKYO
16 Mar JAPAN TOKYO BILLBOARD LIVE TOKYO
19 Mar SINGAPORE ESPLANADE Theatres on the Bay
8 Apr UK BRISTOL ST GEORGES
9 Apr UK LEEDS HOWARD ASSEMBLY ROOM
10 Apr UK BRIGHTON ST GEORGES CHURCH
11 Apr UK LONDON Arctic Circle presents at UNION CHAPEL
2 May UK MANCHESTER RNCM CONCERT HALL
4 May UK BRACKNELL SOUTH HILL PARK ARTS CENTRE
Vashti’s story tells of the thwarted promise of early fame, disenchantment, long-term exile and eventual rediscovery. In the mid-‘60s, after quitting art school to concentrate on music, she was discovered by The Rolling Stones’ guru, Andrew Loog Oldham, signed to Decca and recorded a single written by Jagger / Richards. Reviews touted her as ‘the new Marianne Faithful’ or the ‘female Bob Dylan’ (though Vashti claimed neither), yet further singles remained unreleased, leading to a sense of despair and a rejection of the music industry.
‘Just Another Diamond Day’, the album recorded by Joe Boyd (and featuring members of The Incredible String Band and Fairport Convention) in November ‘69, during a trip back to London had a muted release in 1970 on a tiny pressing and was rapidly forgotten . Yet gradually over the years the record accrued a cultish currency as a lost English classic. In the late ‘90s, typing her own name into an internet search engine, Vashti became aware of this interest, and after tracking down the masters / rights, ‘JADD’ was re-released on the Spinney label – almost thirty years after she had “abandoned it and music forever” - to huge critical acclaim (The Observer Music Monthly placed it at 53 in their ‘Top 100 British albums’).
A host of young, new admirers emerged citing her influence, and Vashti has since recorded with Piano Magic, The Cocteau Twins’ Simon Raymonde, Devendra Banhart, and with Animal Collective on the ‘Prospect Hummer’ EP that FatCat instigated in 2003 and released in May 2005. Following our contact with Vashti, we began chatting and offering advice on some new songs she was writing and looking for a home for. After a while, it occurred to us that instead of advising her on other labels, maybe FatCat could be that home. Vashti happily agreed and the result was her album, the truly beautiful 'Lookaftering' released in October 2005 and which started a new and much happier musical journey for Vashti.
Vashti has recently been concentrating on writing songs for a new FatCat album – planned to be produced with Andy Cabic of the San Francisco band Vetiver.
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