Artist Spotlight: Fiona Blue
An intimate evening of acoustic tunes took place at Circle A on Sunday evening featuring singer-songwriters Fiona Blue, Dara Rilatos, and Ryley Northrop. They each played seven songs, all love-themed covers and originals – for Valentine’s Day.
Fiona Blue has been playing gigs out in town for about two years, the most recent of which was at Anodyne this past Friday. She explains why she does not go by her real name.
“There’s a few reasons. Whenever I introduce myself as Taylor and people know that I’m a musician, they automatically say “oh, like Taylor Swift?” (laughs) so I wanted to avoid that. I also just think my full name is kinda boring, so I didn’t wanna go by it. I always liked the name Fiona; I really like Fiona Apple, and then I write a lot of sad music, so I thought Blue was appropriate.”
She has two songs on streaming services, the first of which is “Dear December.”
“I wrote that song a couple years ago and it’s really about being in love with somebody that’s not good for you. I made the metaphor comparison of loving somebody who’s kinda like the winter here in Wisconsin…somebody who can be really cold and manipulative to you.”
The second song is “Use My Love,” which came out in November.
“I wrote that about myself accepting the fact that my role in life is like a natural counselor; people come to me when they need help and I’m always willing to help them even if I give too much of myself. I’ve ended up in a lot of relationships where I’m giving a lot and people are just using that. Another one of those relationships ended and I was feeling really bitter, and I thought about how I’m not gonna let this happen again.”
She talks about what her goals are for 2020.
“I’m trying to very slowly work on my EP…it’s a five-track EP. I’m just recording it at home. I’m going to grad school full-time though, so once my semester started in January, I’ve found less and less time. I’m just slowly chipping away at it. I’d love to collaborate with more people and try to keep writing. I’m also hoping to publish a book of poetry by the end of the year.”
Fiona Blue plays Var Gallery on February 19th.
