Karen Dalton

So. About 13 months ago, I bought myself an iPod. It was about 3 days before I was to leave for Spain for 5 weeks, and I thought it a more space-efficient way to take my music along on the journey. My good friend, Luke--music aficionado/expert extraordinaire--very thoughtfully gave me 4 CDs FILLED with MP3s to upload to my iPod to take along. I attempted to upload them before I left, but discovered on the plane, to my dismay, that I hadn't uploaded them properly, so couldn't play them.

In the intervening year, I never bothered to re-upload them correctly, once I learned how to do it. Well, this summer I have started uploading all the random CDs that have been lying around all year, languishing as they wait to become part of the iPod canon. I listen to NPR every morning while I make coffee and do dishes, before I start uploading. This Saturday morning on Weekend Edition, NPR featured a little known folk singer from the 60s called Karen Dalton. I was really taken with her voice and intrigued by her biography. I thought, "This seems like the kind of woman Luke would know; I should ask him for a copy of an album" (she only recorded 2).

About 3 hours later, as I uploaded albums into my iPod, I came across the MP3 collections of random stuff Luke had given me last year. And you'll never guess who the 3rd artist on the first CD I uploaded was...

That's right.

Karen. fucking. Dalton.

You can check out the NPR coverage of her here.