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A 27-year-old cassette found in an American charity shop has led to a record deal for a Woking musician.

Carola Baer was in her early 20s and living in San Francisco when she recorded the one-off tape in 1990.

"I had a studio and would experiment with sounds and voice, largely on one-off original, powerful improvisations," she said, "I recorded, mixed and produced my own music - mostly when I didn't have a date."

And that would have been it, but in September 2017 the tape resurfaced in a charity shop in Portland, Oregon - a place Carola has never been.

It was found by Jed Bindeman, a drummer and music collector who owns a record store and runs record labels Freedom to Spend and Composed Nature.

He loved Carola's music so much he tracked her down over Facebook, unsure if she was still a musician or even if she was still alive.

Carola said: "He loved what he heard and has been inspired to re-mix and re-master it for vinyl distribution.

"We have since signed a three-year contract and he offered to pay for me to send the remainder of the few cassettes I had left for him to sift through and find the best of the best for this vinyl release."

(Image: Carola Baer)

The tape dates from a time when Carola was struggling with immigrant life in America, having made a sudden decision to move there after arriving for what was meant to be a two-week visit in 1987.

"Within three days of arrival in San Francisco I fell completely in love," she said.

"With limited time, as I had no work permit for the States, I ended up writing a whole album called Open Door in three months, blowing the ticket to Australia and staying in San Francisco for 16 years.

"I did lots of recording. I struggled very much as an immigrant; even though I was white and spoke English, America is a cold place if you are alone. I put my emotions into song writing and composing."

(Image: Carola Baer)

The charity shop find has spurred her to listen to the few cassettes she has left from that time, and she says the music contains the "raw goosebumps emotion" of that time in America.

In 2000, Carola met her husband and seven years later they moved back to the UK, settling in Woking.

She is now a teacher, but plays with a Surrey-based band called Quiet Wish, whose music "reflects humanitarian and environmental concerns".

"As I listened to this music I created 27 years ago, I saw clearly where my current music comes from," Carola said.

"I often feel like life is linear, one journey, but this happening has reinforced the understanding that often journeys are connected, and that our past belongs to us."

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