by David N     


I first heard Fiona Apple on an alternative radio station in NY singing "Sleep to Dream."   I was familiar with what she looked like prior to that and was pleasantly surprised to hear such a profoundly heartfelt and powerful voice coming from such a tiny person.  Her rich smoky voice combined with her soulful music and intense, candid, poetic lyrics was haunting as well as inspiring.   Immediately, I wanted to know more about such an artist that wanted to share herself so openly with the world.   The more I found out the more I wanted to learn.

Fiona Apple was born in New York City on September 13, 1977.   Her parents, Brandon Maggart and Diane McAfee,  both in the arts named "Fiona" for the Cyd Charisse character in the 1954 musical Brigadoon.   Her mother, was an actress/singer turned chef and her father an actor.   They had two children but never married.  They split up when Fiona was only 4.   She was raised  with her older sister, Amber, two years her elder.   Growing up in a society that encouraged parents to pursue their careers, she was one of many latchkey children.  At the age of 12 she was sexually assaulted in her apartment building by a stranger.   Needless to say, her parents sought medical help.  To bring courage and comfort, her mother gave her a book of poetry by Maya Angelou.  They shared a personal tragedy.  That one gift arguably gave her the strength and inspiration to want to express herself by means of music and poetry.   She was writing music and lyrics at a ripe young age, displaying maturity of lost innocence.  By the time she was 17, she was ready to share it with the world.   Only by fate, as it would seem, she got the opportunity to work with a producer that sensitively understood where she was coming from and what her music meant to her.  Fiona's 3-song demo fell into the hands of Andrew Slater.  Working as a creative team with musicians gathered by Slater, a musical tapestry was woven with 10 magnificent threads that make up her debut album, Tidal.  This hypnotic album takes its listeners on an intense journey where love, loss, scorn, and sorrow are disclosed.  Tidal is a timeless masterpiece.

We went to a benefit concert in New York City where Fiona opened the show and sang all her chart-topping hits.   To close her set she insisted on singing "Never Is A Promise" --  this bittersweet, powerful, cathartic song.   She was visibly touched by the warm reception the crowd gave her for that song.  In our opinion, it's her signature song.  We love that song and thus the title of this website.  It reflects how we all feel at times and for some of us all the time...

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