Fay’s band mate, Paul Wilson, found this photo of their last practice with Fay and it inspired him to write about the impression she has left on him. He said of that last session “she only showed up for the last hour but she tore the roof off”…

“I didn’t expect much when I joined the band. This was the second time I’d been in touch with them, but I bailed on the first one when a friend asked me to collaborate with them. The music was a mix of 90’s pop rock and a few other standards. Lightweight by my standards, but mostly easy to play and I figured it would get me used to playing with a band again and help build my confidence. I remember being the first one to practice and she was almost always the last (as I later learned she had singing lessons on the other side of town.)

She put me at ease from the outset, in a way I’ve come to appreciate in some of the better managers I’ve dealt with professionally: not condescending and faux-cool, but forming a legitimate human connection. She got my weird sense of humour right off the bat, tossing me a sly wink at a pun that went over our bandmates’ heads.

Also whilst I’ve had the pleasure to work with more than a few gifted vocalists in my time playing in bands, she was one of the few who seemed comfortable discussing theory with the instrumentalists. Some of the changes worked better than others for me, because shifting up a key on guitar is easier than shifting down, but as someone who can’t carry a tune with handles, it was nice to have a vocalist meet me halfway.

I have a lot of fond memories from those sessions: our loose, improvised take on You’ve Got The Love where we took the basic elements and followed our moods on the given day; her roof-raising vocals on Hard To Handle; too many takes on My Favourite Game as we tried to get the shifting structure correct; and the sheer out of control, falling over ourselves take on Stone Cold Sober. One song I really loved doing with her was our guitar and vocal version of Valerie. We eventually moved to a more Motown arrangement at the rhythm section’s insistence, but I liked the quiet version because it let her vocals shine through.

Outside of the practise room, I’m happy to say we became friends. I was always impressed with her seemingly boundless energy, splitting her time between her boys, her band and her myriad professional responsibilities. I often wondered how she managed to sleep. It can sound like a cliche, but the world does feel like a less-bright place without her in it.”

Paul Wilson