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Do you know the singer in this Photo? (and other people lost to the years)

liquidtmd

Banned
Drink in hand, tonight I've just been going through some old boxes and found a stack of old photos. Some are of a five week random jaunt I took when I turned 21 in 2003 which I've not seen in years. I was in University (Stoke UK at the time), my third year and when it hit January I thought - "I need to book and go away somewhere to celebrate finishing in May".

So with no plan, one cold winter night, I booked myself a solo flight to New York from Manchester on May 27th 2003 (my birthday and rough finishing Uni date) and a return flight 30 days later. That's it. No months of planning really. Just a list of some hostels and a sense of adventure. It was an amazing trip of discovery all in (with a few damn hairy moments and the benefit of hindsight now thinking this was insanity with no planning). I met some wonderful people (and scary people and Dan Akroyd and James Belushi funnily enough) and some great times but this thread really is about when I decided to take a bus from New York to Washington D.C a week into the trip (a cheap bus from Chinatown that ended up with me and 50 odd Chinese people who spoke no english for several hours that descended into joyous, funny singing)

When I got to D.C I spent several days there, checking out the White House and soaking the place up. After spending years of hearing of D.C (and probably lacking invention), one afternoon I was thinking I may of made a mistake of coming as I couldn't find that much to do to justify another few days there (mid way point) before heading back N.Y way. Beer in hand and enjoying my own company, I saw some music starting up on a stage by the Ronald Reagan Centre so sat down in the sun to chill out. A solo girl came out on the makeshift stage outside and sang 10 songs and she was really good. Throughout the set, I started to really enjoy the serendipity of finding this free music and felt a lot better about how the day was panning out. I believe she was one of a two warm artists before (again my memory is hazy here) Sixpence None The Richer (of 'Kiss Me' song fame) headlined the afternoon.

After this solo girl came off, she came over to me and said "Hey - just wanted to say thanks for staying for my whole set - I saw you and really appreciate it". At this point there wasn't a big crowd and what crowd there was interchanged, so I probably did stick out not far from the stage sat down. I said 'no worries' to her and wished her well. She asked me where I was from and we had a small chit-chat. She got her mate to take a picture with my camera of me and her and that was that

AOOZlay.jpg


I continued back to New York, proceeding having adventures then came back to the UK and now 14 years later I'm married with two kids. And I see this photo tonight and wonder what happened to this girl - did she make it with her pretty good music and keep up the gigging across D.C / U.S? She gave me a nice afternoon of tunes in the sun many years ago and a smile tonight. Again it was early June 2003, in D.C outside by the Reagan. No idea of songs / band name / her name at all.

Also: who are the background people in your life you wonder how it panned out for?

Banish me to Stoke on Trent 14 years ago if dumb thread idea.

UPDATE SOLVED IN MERE HOURS: Gaffer Monchi-kun identifying as Roya Vakili, checked a cover of hers on YouTube and yep, that's her.

You guys rock. Thanks for indulging my memory lane trip
 

LakeEarth

Member
As soon as I see a singer with "The image you are requesting does not exist or is no longer available." tattoo'd on their head, I'll let you know.

EDIT - fixed, and sorry no clue
 

FyreWulff

Member
If the radio station in the background still exists it wouldn't hurt to send them a request and see if they have a record of which bands they hired to perform that day.

If this event was promoted, it could even be in newspaper archives.
 

liquidtmd

Banned
If the radio station in the background still exists it wouldn't hurt to send them a request and see if they have a record of which bands they hired to perform that day.

If this event was promoted, it could even be in newspaper archives.

That could be an idea.

97.1...something by the Photo, and according to Google it's Wash FM.

I did a quick Google for 'Sixpence none the richer' gigs there in '03 but couldnt see anything obvious

Reddit has stories like this all the time, try someplace big like that

True. I'm a Gaffer first though! May Reddit this at some point. It's just more of a curiosity as I sit and member these photos with a beer.
 

Borgnine

MBA in pussy licensing and rights management
"Yes hello can you help me find the name of an unknown female singer?

"Sure, did she have a defining characteristic that would help us narrow it down?"

"Well... I.. *starts sweating* ... um.."
 

5taquitos

Member
Be real OP, you're just hoping she remembers you and wants to "meet up."

Really though, try Reddit. I've seen crazier "can you identify..." posts there that worked out.
 

Volimar

Member
I remember ages ago there was a show called America High. It started on Fox I think and then ended up on PBS. Anyway it followed the lives of high school students and I kind of dug one of the girls named Kaytee Bodle. She was a singer songwriter in that folksy style and I really thought she'd be huge. Years later I tried to find out what happened to her and she ended up in some nothing shitty rock band that completely did away with her style. Bummer.
 

liquidtmd

Banned
I remember ages ago there was a show called America High. It started on Fox I think and then ended up on PBS. Anyway it followed the lives of high school students and I kind of dug one of the girls named Kaytee Bodle. She was a singer songwriter in that folksy style and I really thought she'd be huge. Years later I tried to find out what happened to her and she ended up in some nothing shitty rock band that completely did away with her style. Bummer.

Aww real bummer. I'm hoping the same didn't befall this girl.

Also: yes, happily married and no creeper intent. As stated, it was just a nice afternoon in the sun and I wondered if she 'made it'
 

shaneo632

Member
She is/was super cute, I don't blame you being (respectfully) wistful about this.

Hope you find out what became of her.
 

captive

Joe Six-Pack: posting for the common man
she looks like someone i went to school with but not way she was playing in a band in Washington at all.

You, however, look like the bad guy from Gone in 60 Seconds.
 
I did a facial recognition search and it came back with:

Sandhya Sanjana

wiki:

Sandhya Sanjana[1] (Hindi: संध्या) is a singer born in Mumbai, India. She is one of the first Indian singers to have experimented with fusing Indian classical vocals with various other western contemporary styles. Her career began at a young age and she has appeared on over 30 albums, covering various genres.

Embarking on a solo career

In 1998, Sandhya and Dinshah separated. In 1999, she married a Dutch man and moved to the Netherlands. Here she embarked on her solo career. She recorded her Nava Rasa suite with Heiko Dijker on tabla and Matthieu Safatly on prepared cello. She toured the Netherlands and Germany with this trio, while sometimes adding a dancer to the group. She also lives in London from time to time. In London, she performed her Nava Rasa song cycle with Renga of the London Philharmonic Orchestra twice – at St. James's Church in Piccadilly and at the Southbank Centre. Alice Coltrane invited her to do a solo performance at the John Coltrane festival for a fund raising concert[5] in El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles, where she was accompanied by Ravi Coltrane's pianist Luis Perdomo (pianist) on some pieces. In late 2009, she recorded Random Access Melody which was released on the Dutch Loplop label.

sandhya_cd_cover.jpg

Probably too old though?

What kind of music did she sing? Covers? Her own songs?

Was it pop music? Alternative? World?

Do you remember the name of the show or festival?
 

Clockwork

Member
1) I don't think Sixpence was playing. Although they were on their Divine Discontent tour I was unable to place them in DC at this time.
2) The bigger issue is that there are bands playing all the time/throughout the summer in Woodrow Wilson Plaza.

It is likely she was just a local act.
 
This archived post seems to imply that (at least as of 12/2003) WASH-FM was "All Christmas, All the time".

I don't know if it was that way all year round or not.

Now they're an iHeartRadio station so there isn't anything useful on their website.

What does it say below the partial station name in the photo? I can't read it.
 

FyreWulff

Member
This archived post seems to imply that (at least as of 12/2003) WASH-FM was "All Christmas, All the time".

I don't know if it was that way all year round or not.

Now they're an iHeartRadio station so there isn't anything useful on their website.

What does it say below the partial station name in the photo? I can't read it.

Depends, one of the local pop stations in my state (Star 104.5, I think?) becomes a Christmas songs 24/7 station for the winter months.
 
The little banner in the back seems to say "RACE FOR THE CURE".

I looked it up and there was a Susan Komen Race for the Cure on 6/1/03 at the Monument Grounds.

Link

Perhaps the concert was tied into that? Could be a lead.

The little ribbon on her shirt confirms this! (probably)
 

Clockwork

Member
This archived post seems to imply that (at least as of 12/2003) WASH-FM was "All Christmas, All the time".

I don't know if it was that way all year round or not.

Now they're an iHeartRadio station so there isn't anything useful on their website.

What does it say below the partial station name in the photo? I can't read it.

No, it wasn't year round. Of course they played Christmas music all of the time in December.

It says Work Radio Station...

That's gotta be her

Yeah...no. This looks like a typical NY/NJ/PA girl. Probably Italian. Most certainly not Indian.
 

mr stroke

Member
I did a facial recognition search and it came back with:

Sandhya Sanjana



Probably too old though?

What kind of music did she sing? Covers? Her own songs?

Was it pop music? Alternative? World?

Do you remember the name of the show or festival?

That's gotta be her
 
Stuff we know:


Date of photo: June 1st, 2003
Place: Reagan Center
Radio station: 97.1 Wash FM
Event nearby or perhaps related: Komen Race for the Cure

Update..

This official PDF seems to list the Race for the Cure in DC in 2003 was held on June 7th, 2003 (not the first as indicated on the other website).

No other info in that document about other events happening around the race though.

June 7th was a Saturday that year.

This Wikipedia page confirms the race was on 6/7/03.
 

liquidtmd

Banned
Update..

This official PDF seems to list the Race for the Cure in DC in 2003 was held on June 7th, 2003 (not the first as indicated on the other website).

No other info in that document about other events happening around the race though.

June 7th was a Saturday that year.

About June 7th would fit, I think it was a weekday though. I spent about a week in NY and then mid way through week two I hit D.C on the Chinese bus of crazy

I may Tweet Sixpence / the lead and the radio station and see what bites info wise since Google is showing zip. In honesty, she may have never gone outside a local circuit but thought it may be worth a dig
 
About June 7th would fit, I think it was a weekday though. I spent about a week in NY and then mid way through week two I hit D.C on the Chinese bus of crazy

I may Tweet Sixpence / the lead and the radio station and see what bites info wise since Google is showing zip. In honesty, she may have never gone outside a local circuit but thought it may be worth a dig

Did you get any other pictures that day? Anything else to help us place the time/date?

I imagine if the race was on 6/7/03, the banners/etc would be up ahead of time, so it could be earlier in the week.

What kind of music was she singing?
 

liquidtmd

Banned
Did you get any other pictures that day? Anything else to help us place the time/date?

I imagine if the race was on 6/7/03, the banners/etc would be up ahead of time, so it could be earlier in the week.

What kind of music was she singing?

Her music style was kinda folksy, but I want to say KT Tunstall-ish in places.

It's late but I'm gonna go through my other photos tomorrow and try and place the date more exactly. I didn't take any others of that day I don't think but I haven't checked properly.

Will update if I find anything new. I don't believe I saw anything of a 'race' itself that day but I recall banners for an event like it
 

Nekofrog

Banned
What's the exif data say? They had that in the Stone age right?

You mean pictures used to not be on your camera? Waaaa
 
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