Soul Drift

Photograph by Aoife O’Sullivan

The free track this week is ‘Counting to Sleep’ by Wallis Bird. Wallis Bird is a 24 year old folk/acoustic/indie artist, originally from Meath in Ireland, but now living in London. Her band is Christian Vinne (Drums), Michael Vinne (Bass) & Aoife O’Sullivan (Backing Vocals/Viola).

The track is really good! I really like the lyrics, & the music is upbeat & catchy. As her Last.FM page says:

With this music, the lyrics reach out and speak to you. It is music from the mind that speaks to the heart. Wallis’ songs mirror her life, natural real and honest, what she gives as music is something that cannot be denied , her voice goes under your skin and often mirrors the listeners life too.

The track is definitely for fans of Ani DiFranco (Bird cites her as an influence, saying, “I love women with powerful, gutsy voices. I really looked up to Ani DiFranco when I was growing up. She doesn’t give a f**k about anything. She’s a really strong woman. You had to listen to her, and she did everything independently. And she’s got a huge cult following for that.“) & other female singer-songwriters such as Fiona Apple, Tori Amos, Bjork, Feist, Nina Simone, Gemma Hayes & Emiliani Torrini. She also listens to other music which probably have an influence such as ES, Aidan, Damien Rice, Paul Simon, The Grand Mirage, Screaming Headless Torsos, Cinematic Orchestra, Anthony And The Johnsons, Torun Eriksen, Supergrass, Sufjan Stevens & Get Well Soon.

Bird is a self-taught guitarist & she also has an unconventional/unique style of playing guitar. She was born left-handed but severed five of her fingers in a lawn mower accident when she was 18 months old (she had four sewn back on again on her left hand). Due to this she became used to playing the guitar upside-down & right-handed.

You can hear some tracks (including ‘Counting to Sleep’) on her MySpace Page & on her Official Site. You can also purchase her new album ‘Spoons’ on iTunes for the special price of £4.74 right now!

“Be happy, look at things in a positive way, and life is so much better.”

Official Site | MySpace | Tour Dates