Tia Blake

Christiana Elizabeth "Tia" Wallman (April 13, 1952 – June 17, 2015), known professionally as Tia Blake, was an American singer-songwriter and writer. She recorded the 1971 album Folk Songs & Ballads: Tia Blake and Her Folk-Group, which was released in France in a small pressing and reissued in 2011. Later accounts have described it as a lost or rediscovered folk album, and commentators have compared Blake with singers including Nick Drake and Nico.

Wallman was born in Columbus, Georgia, and grew up in North Carolina. In 1960, during a custody dispute, she and her siblings were kidnapped by her father, who worked for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). He was arrested after they were found and later fled the country. Wallman moved to Paris in 1970, formed Her Folk Group, recorded her only studio album, and performed once at the Théâtre du Vieux-Colombier in support of it. She later recorded demos and rehearsal tapes in Paris, moved to Montreal, recorded songs for CBC Radio, and sang backing vocals on a song by Daniel Lavoie.

After graduating from Smith College in 1989, Wallman worked as a freelance writer and editor. Under the name Tia Wallman, she published work in Granta, including a memoir about travelling to Saigon during the Vietnam War to search for her father. She also co-wrote a comedy piece with her mother that was performed at the 2007 New York Fringe Festival. Wallman died of breast cancer in 2015, aged 63.

Biography Christiana Elizabeth Wallman was born in Columbus, Georgia, on April 13, 1952, Her father, Jack, worked for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). In 1960, after her parents separated, he kidnapped Wallman and her siblings during a custody dispute and kept them for seven months. After the children were found, he was arrested and later fled the country. There she met Benito Merlino, a Sicilian folksinger, record-store owner and record producer. at Pierre Barouh's Studios Saravah. She recorded an album of public-domain folk songs and ballads under the name Tia Blake, It was released in France in 1971 as Folk Songs & Ballads: Tia Blake and Her Folk-Group, with few copies produced. A month after the album's release, Wallman and her group performed at the Théâtre du Vieux-Colombier to promote it. In 1973, she recorded demos and rehearsal tapes with a guitarist named Jack. She later sang backing vocals on "Boule Qui Roule", a song from Daniel Lavoie's 1979 album Nirvana Bleu.

Wallman graduated from Smith College in 1989 and won the Elizabeth Drew Writing Prize. Living in North Carolina, she worked as a freelance writer and editor. In 2006, she co-wrote a 10-minute comedy piece with her mother, Joan Blake, which was staged at the 2007 New York Fringe Festival. The album has been described as a lost or rediscovered album, The Tia Blake Collection is held at Wilson Library in North Carolina and includes audio recordings, images, documents, and written works by Wallman.

Publications "We Went to Saigon", Granta, July 14, 2006 "Forbidden Games", Granta, March 9, 2017