Folk singer/songwriter Sian Evans is spiralling upward after a steep learning curve in the big smoke.

The past few years have proven a circuitous journey of discovery for singer/songwriter Sian Evans. She’s had a crack at life in the big smoke, tasted the sweetness of success and learnt many home truths about an industry famous for its ability to create or break dreams.

Out of it all, Sian says she’s emerged a stronger person and though she admits to having a lot left to learn, she’s seen enough to know she’s got what it takes to make it.

“I wanted to go down to the big smoke and become a rock star,” she says of her move to Melbourne and later Sydney after winning a prize for best singer/songwriter at the Yungaburra Folk Festival.

“In Cairns it’s easy to get swept up in an illusion that you are someone who is amazingly great because it’s that big fish in a small pond syndrome. The best thing I could have done was go to Melbourne and see what the real world was like.”

It was there the 22 year old discovered just how tough the music industry could be.

“I still don’t know a whole lot but I know a whole lot more than what I used to,” she says. “It’s all about marketing and advertising. It’s about doing that in the right way, talent is only a small part of it, the rest is how you market yourself.

“Someone said to me (the) business is 20 per cent talent, 20 per cent looks and 60 per cent bull---- and it is. All you have to do is talk the talk and walk the walk. If you can actually play then that’s a bonus.”

It may seem a jaded outlook for a girl who started tinkering with music as a child, writing her first song as a bright-eyed 10 year old and gaining classical training in flute, clarinet, saxophone and bassoon by age 12.

However, it’s this steely resolve that seems to be driving Sian to put her fears behind her and step out into the world, a task she says is never easy for a self-promoted artist, especially one who is still learning the art of conquering nerves.

“I never played it (her first song) to anybody. I never had the confidence to play to people and I still find it difficult to play to people,” Sian laughs.

“I find it very difficult to play to my own parents. Busking is the most frightful thing for me because it’s all about creating your own space. It’s all about you and your own charisma, which is what draws people to you. When you go on to a stage the space has already been created for you and all you have to do is walk in there and add your piece.”

Going up on stage, though easier, still makes Sian nervous, a hang-up that goes back to her days performing flute solos in eisteddfods and other competitions as a teenager.

“I’m afraid of judgement like that, when it’s such a personal thing. It’s like exposing yourself naked to a football audience and hoping they’ll think you’re the centrefold girl or something. It’s that sort of feeling,” she explains. “I remember … we had the state championships for the (school) orchestra. I had the flute solo in this piece called The Montagues and Capulets, a great piece from Romeo and Juliet, and I was so nervous that even my bum cheeks were shaking even though I was sitting on them. As far as my own songs go, I didn’t start playing in front of people until I was about 17.”

Nerves aside, Sian seems to have all the right ingredients to take her music to the next level, especially if the opinions of talented musician and funnyman Tim Rogers are anything to go by.

Sian supported Tim at his Tanks Arts Centre show in May and he was so impressed he left these parting words of encouragement: “Sure Sian’s got a wonderful voice, dextrous guitar chops, lyrical prowess, is a looker and charming as hell … but what about the positives?”

Deborah Conway was equally inspired by the young singer’s lyrical ability and original songs when they met at the Women in Song concert in March.

“She said: ‘That was a great set’. I thanked her but had no idea who she was,” Sian laughs. “I thought that couldn’t be her.”

This quirky singer, who refuses to do covers or pigeon hole her style, instead defining it as urban folk beach blues or folk music with a funky twang, has already dominated on the local scene with her “poetic” lyrics and “syrupy” sound.

She’s released a series of CDs, headed local groups including the Sian Evans trio, been offered international solo work and supported big names such as Ash Grunwald. But Sian has her sights set on bigger things. In addition to her latest CD Womb to the World, a tribute to the birth of her son Tate, now 17 months, she has secured gigs which will raise her profile substantially outside of Cairns.

Later this year Sian is providing support for established Brisbane musician Rachael Brady at the Brisbane Powerhouse in addition to performing at a host of festivals along the east coast.

“I’ve also just started working with a guitarist who’s phenomenal,” Sian says of her plans to leave her soloist roots behind in exchange for a more group-oriented focus. 

“He’s crazy, he’s got the most amazing spirit and he doesn’t read a note of music, which is even better. He sits there and he just plays by feel and that’s what I love so much about him. His name is Torres and he’s a Torres Strait Islander boy. We’ve been having some amazing jams and, in time, we’re hoping we’ll become (a group). I’ll still retain being Sian Evans but he’ll be one of my main players. For me, it’s stepping up to the next level.”

Sian says, though working towards her ultimate goal of getting her music “out there”, she’s uncertain what lies ahead.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen next. I just feel like I need to slow down and just write for a little while and then hopefully I’ll feel inspired and my next path will become clearer,” she says. “I’m a firm believer in universal timing and all that sort of stuff. But I wrote a song last night and it’s called Cliché, how the cycle of life is just such a cliché and how it goes up and down and then back up again and with each time you become a little bit more mature and a little bit wiser, you know, steady on your feet.”

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