Valeryan was part of The Settlers back in the mid 70s and is seen here sitting on the back of a bench with, from left to right, Steve Smith (vocals and guitar), leader Mike Jones (vocals, guitar, banjo and fiddle) and Paul Greedus (vocals/guitar/bass/piano) While she was with the band the single Billy Whichaway, written and produced by Pete Goodall using an alias Al Famous, was released on the Riverdale label (1976). She left the band soon after the track was recorded to follow a solo career working all over the United Kingdom, and touring in Norway, Holland, Malta, Sicily and Zambia to name but a few countries along the way
After a long break from the professional music scene during which she continued to write songs while bringing up two sons she bumped into Pete Goodall in Hereford, of all places in 2010, Pete suggested that they did an album together at his recording studio and the rest as they say is ancient history. Rolling Road went live on I-TUNES in 2012 and many others have followed since then.
The Settlers (who formed in the mid 1960s) were joined by Valeryan in early 1976 replacing Andie Sheridan as the band’s female vocalist. She was in the line-up and played a key part in the recording of ‘Whichaway Billy’ a single both written and produced by Pete Goodall for the Riverdale label being released in October 1976. Soon after, Valeryan left the band to focus on her solo career.
She worked in a variety of UK folk clubs while still a student and finally after six years graduating from London University with a B.Sc. in Zoology and a Ph.D. in Animal Behaviour, went into showbiz for real. She then traveled around the country with her folk cabaret act before joining The Settlers, appearing on BBC 2’s “Poems & Pints” with Max Boyce, playing Principal Girl in pantomime at Leeds Grand with Harry Worth, and Cannon & Ball, and was no stranger to BBC Radio 2’s folk scene.
Valeryan and Pete hadn’t worked together since the mid 70s having lost contact after The Settlers single. The album Rolling Road is produced by Pete Goodall and engineered by Brian Robertson in Hereford and mastered by Turan Audio in Oxford.
“Valeryan’s version of the Sandy Denny song ‘Who Knows Where The Time Goes’ is just lovely. I’ll be giving it a play alright. With this album, she’s made a new project out of one of those interesting things which has been languishing in the archives.” – Reaction from John Cavanagh, DJ at Radio Six International.
Rolling Road consists of 12 tracks, nine of which are written by Valeryan and provide musical entertainment encompassing contrasting styles of voice and arrangement. The album features genres including Latin, country rock, contemporary and traditional folk, jazz, blues, and pop.
