Singer-songwriter, recording artist and actor Talia Segal passed away on Tuesday, June. 24. The Bethesda resident was 50.
Segal, who was born in Washington, D.C., died after a 13-year battle with cancer.
A graduate of the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Segal described her musical stylings as “Zooey Deschanel-flavored folk and pop. Sweet with a touch of salt, available in original and country style.”
For a while after college, Segal busked on the streets and in the subways of Manhattan and played in coffee houses, colleges and music festivals. She eventually released five albums of original material and toured around the country.
“There’s a part of me in everything I write,” Segal said in a 2021 interview with The Reporter. “Even if it’s a song about somebody else, it’s still rooted in my experience and the way I view the world. Everybody who writes a song brings a piece of themselves. A lot of the joy I derive from my older stuff now is presenting that material to an audience that’s never heard it before and then watching them experience it for the first time, because it’s all new to them.”
She also worked as an actor, appearing in productions at the Fells Point Corner Theatre and the Landless Theatre Company in Gaithersburg.
“I’m incredibly lucky, that I get to spend my life doing what I love,” Segal wrote on her website. “I’ve been singing for as long as I can remember myself. When I was a little kid, I picked up a pencil, started writing and never stopped. I grew up a little and, thanks to some encouragement from my college roommate, picked up a guitar for the first time. Realizing that I could combine my love of music, singing and writing in new ways was incredibly gratifying.”
Among her honors were a first-place award in the Hazel Dickens Songwriting Contest and as a finalist in the John Lennon Songwriting and Telluride Troubadour Songwriting contests. She was also a finalist in the New Folk Competition at the Kerrville Music Festival.
Her 2012 album “The Thing Itself” was praised by The Aquarian Weekly as “dripping with emotion optimism and talent. … An entirely unique pop-rock album.”
“Talia was a gifted singer-songwriter and recording artist whose musical talent was matched only by her rare ability to transform poetry into song,” her family wrote on the website of Sol Levinson & Bros. “Her lyrics resonated with emotional depth, authenticity and a voice uniquely her own.
“Talia loved fiercely and lived fearlessly, always standing up for the vulnerable. With a kind heart and a bold spirit, she often said, ‘I break up dog fights with my bare hands,’ a testament to her courage and compassion.
“She found joy in the little things and was guided by an unshakeable belief in following her dreams large and small,” wrote her family. “Talia is deeply loved by her friends and family, and her brilliant light will be profoundly missed. Her legacy lives on in her music, in the memories she leaves behind, and in the hearts of all who were lucky enough to know her.
Talia Segal is survived by her parents, Gladys Segal (nee Rabinovich) and Donald Segal (Barbara McAlpine-Segal); her sister, Ava Segal (Chris Joyce); and many friends and extended family.
She was predeceased by her grandmother, Lya Segall.
Services are private. A celebration of Segal’s life will be held at a later date.
The family encourages donations in her memory be sent to The Lya Segall Ovarian Cancer Institute at Mercy, 301 St. Paul Place, Baltimore, Maryland 21202 (mdmercy.com/mercy-services/womens-health-and-medicine/ovarian-cancer-institute), the Montgomery County Humane Society, 601 S. Stonestreet Avenue, Rockville, Maryland 20850 (mchumane.org), or the Endangered Species Theatre Company, 511 Grant Place, Frederick, Maryland 21702 (esptheatre.org).
Segal posted the following video to her YouTube channel on Oct 5, 2021, writing “I made this music video, by myself in my apartment, during COVID lockdown. It’s been quite a journey and I learned many things during the process. Thanks for watching!”
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