Saturday, March 03, 2007

Blast from the Past

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I got a call today from an old friend of mine from my Adelaide days. Sue and I lost contact when I left Australia, but she’s in LA now and with a bit of detective work managed to track me down.

My first thought when I heard her voice was, Oh my God, Sue; when did you develop such a strong Australian accent! Then I realized Sue hadn’t changed; I was the one whose ear had lost its familiarity with that Adelaide lilt. Whatever inflections I myself had acquired after eleven years of living in Australia are now gone, leaving my own voice sounding flat in comparison.

The last time I saw Sue, she was excited because her then fifteen-year-old daughter, Orianthi, was about to tour with Carlos Santana. Even as a small child, Orianthi could make a guitar sing. Orianthi had high ambitions, and Sue was hopeful they might actually be on the verge of coming true. It’s been a long, hard road, but Orianthi has now signed a recording contract. She has a wonderful sound—a deep, melodic contralto blended with guitar riffs that can bring tears to your eyes. If you want a sneak preview, listen to her at myspace.com/orianthi.

2 comments:

Charles Gramlich said...

It's good to talk to old friends again.

RK Sterling said...

What a beautiful, talented girl.

Funny about accents, isn't it? Whenever I speak to friends or family from the South, I wonder when they started sounding like the Clampetts. ;)