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Toronto blues singer writes a "Sara Tidwell" song
Good on Sai King for having helped out a fan. Generous and courteous. I'd expect nothing less. And I'm hoping I can interview her for The Kingcast when she plays a gig in Ottawa this fall.
From the Toronto Star:
Stephen King takes shining to Toronto blues singer
August 15, 2010
Paul McLaughlin
When Nicole Christian was in Grade 5 in Rochester, N.Y., her teacher asked the students to write a letter to their hero. Christian chose horror writer Stephen King, whose books she was devouring.
“My teacher was a little miffed,” Christian says. “Everybody else was writing to world leaders and presidents.”
Remarkably, King wrote back. He thanked her “for taking the time to enjoy my work.” Christian had the letter framed and it hung in her bedroom until she left home at age 18 for the University of Toronto to study the concert flute.
Now married and living in Toronto, the 28-year-old works as a waitress in the Beaches while pursuing a career as a blues singer and songwriter. She performs around Toronto in a group called Nicole Christian and the Caravan.
A few months ago she once again wrote to King, although she felt sure he would not respond to her new request: She wanted to use his words.
A self-described “huge Stephen King fan,” Christian has read most of King’s 50-plus books, many repeatedly. “I read It, which is about 1,200 pages, every couple of years,” she says. Another favourite is Bag of Bones. “It has no cover, like a lot of my King books, because they’ve all been dragged over hell and earth.”
A central character in Bag of Bones is a blues singer who was murdered in the 1920s. King wrote some song lyrics in the book. “He would write a line and maybe 50 pages later another line, but there isn’t a complete song by him,” Christian says.
A few years ago, she got the idea to take what King had written, add her own lyrics and melody, and create a song. It took her two years to come up with the melody, which came to her one night this year while re-reading the book at a Pizza Pizza.
By May, as she was starting to work on a new CD, her third self-produced collection, she was ready to record the King-inspired song, which she called “Barn Dance.”
Then it dawned on her that she was likely violating King’s copyright. “I’d say the lyrics are 60 to 70 per cent Stephen King,” she says.
Christian searched the Internet for a way to contact King, a task that proved difficult. She finally sent a message through stephenking.com. A day later, Marsha DeFilippo, King’s assistant, replied saying that the request had been forwarded to “Steve.”
Buoyed by the quick reply, Christian began recording the song. By late June, with her money already spent laying down tracks in the studio, Christian had not heard back.
She posted another message on the fan site (it doesn’t allow direct email contact to DeFilippo) repeating her request. Once again she received an answer within 24 hours. This time, however, it came from her hero.
“She can use the words, but I don’t get the sole credit,” King wrote via DeFilippo. “She and I share, with her name first. Steve.” He didn’t request any financial compensation.
“I flipped out when I saw that,” says Christian. “All my life I grew up wanting to be a writer and now I can put on my resume that I’ve co-written a song (which can be heard here) with Stephen King!”
Paul McLaughlin is a freelance writer. He can reached at paul@paulmclaughlin.ca
Originally Posted by Moderator
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