After being expelled from an art school in Oxford at the ripe old age of 18, Vashti Bunyan moved to New York, where she discovered the music of Bob Dylan. Deciding that the career of a musician was the path she wanted to follow, Bunyan returned to England and was almost immediately discovered by the manger of Rolling Stones, Andrew Loog Oldham, who helped her release her first single "Some Things Just Stick in Your Mind," which was written by members of Rolling Stones. After receiving commercial success from this release, Bunyan decided to travel to the Hebridean Islands to join a commune with her boyfriend. While traveling and temporarily living in the commune, Bunyan began to write her first album. Though this album was met with positive reviews in London, it failed to produce many record sales and was thus largely ignored. Giving up, Bunyan decided to move to Ireland and spent the next thirty years raising three kids and tending to livestock. In her absence from the public eye, her album slowly gained a cult following and became so highly sought after that it was sold on eBay for up to $2000. After being contacted by contemporary folk musicians, including Devendra Banhart and Joanna Newsom, who cited Bunyan as one of their biggest influences, the British folk singer re-emerged on the music scene in 2002, first contributing to these contemporary musicians' albums, then releasing her own second full length. This release was met with much acclaim and Bunyan continues to tour today.
