Christiana Elizabeth Wallman was born in
Columbus, Georgia, on April 13, 1952, Her father, Jack, worked for the
CIA. In 1960 her parents separated and in the middle of
custody battle, her father kidnapped Wallman and her siblings for seven months. When they were found, her father was arrested and subsequently fled the country. There she met and fell in love with Benito Merlino, a Sicilian folksinger, record store owner and record producer. at
Pierre Barouh's Studios Saravah. In an afternoon, she recorded an album of public domain
folk songs and
ballads under the name Tia Blake, It was released in France, in 1971, as
Folk Songs & Ballads: Tia Blake and Her Folk-Group, with very few copies produced. A month after the album's release, to promote it, Wallman and her group performed at the
Théâtre du Vieux-Colombier. In 1973 she recorded a selection of demos and rehearsals backed by a guitarist named Jack. Wallman later provided backing vocals for the song "Boule Qui Roule" on
Daniel Lavoie's 1979
Nirvana Bleu album. Wallman graduated from
Smith College in 1989, winning the Elizabeth Drew Writing Prize. Living in
North Carolina, she became a freelance writer and editor. In 2006, a comedy piece she co-wrote with her mother, Joan Blake, was staged at the 2007
New York Fringe Festival, lasting for 10 minutes. Having been described as a rediscovered lost album, The Tia Blake Collection is held at
Wilson Library in North Carolina, comprising audio recordings, images, documents, and written works by Wallman. ==Works==