dfrnt: Here & Now.

Erin McCarley, who grew up in the Dallas suburb of Garland, has an amazing talent, and an even more amazing voice.  She recalls days of dance class and choir rehearsal, and saying that her parents couldn't have done a better job raising her and her sister.  “It was a very happy home with very little pain to deal with.” She quickly realized that life wasn't always that way: “It kind of gave me an unrealistic view of everything,” she said.

After college, she moved to San Diego, but her pursuit wasn't centered around music.  She would sing on weekends with a country cover band, and as she lived in the area more, she progressed towards a singer and songwriter.  “Once I discovered songwriting it became an addiction,” said McCarley.  She spent many, many days in her home for hours and hours on end, working on songs. 

When she met producer/writer/keyboardist Jamie Kenney, they began writing the songs that would make up her first album: Love, Save the Empty.  When she performed the tracks on the album at SXSW, they were an immediate success.  Her debut album was released in the fall.

“It’s hard for me to write about being happy,” she said. “I don’t prefer being sad, but it’s a real spot for me. If you met me, I’m not this dark, sulking person, though I’m not bubbly by any means, either. I guess it comes down to the fact that I’m not afraid of being sad."

Similar Artists: Missy Higgins, Schuyler Fisk

Influenced By: Alanis Morissette, Aimee Mann, the Beatles

Favorite Songs: Pitter-Pat; Love, Save the Empty; Pony; Gotta Figure This Out, Lovesick Mistake, Blue Suitcase

I first heard her music from a free sampler from Amazon of Pitter-Pat, and have been listening to her since.  I need to get the album soon :]

Alanis Morissette was raised in Ottawa, Canada and by the age of ten, had landed a show on You Can't Do That On Television, a popular children's program.  She was always playing the piano and songwriting at a young age.  She was able to record Fate Stay With Me, a single, by using some of the money that she made on the TV program.  At only 14 years old, she was offered a recording contract with MCA/Canada.

The debut album, Alanis, was released in 1991, and went platinum in Canada.  That same year, she won the Juno award (the equivalent of a Grammy) and Most Promising Female Vocalist.  She recorded a second album in 1992 which was recorded and released before she graduated high school.

The second album, Now Is The Time, only did about half as well as the first.  After high school, she moved to L.A., where she hooked up with Glen Ballard, who began to push her from the pop music she sang as a teen, towards a darker side.  The recordings were sent around, and finally Maverick signed Morissette, and the album Jagged Little Pill was released in 1995, and the songs on the album kept her on the album charts for the next two years. 

For this album, she received awards for the album, including Grammys for Album of the Year, Best Female Rock Vocal Performance, Best Rock Song, and Best Rock Album.  She released Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie in 1998.

In 2005, she released Jagged Little Pill Acoustic, and in November of the same year, she released The Collection, a compliation of 17 tracks.  In the years since, she has recorded songs for different television shows.  In 2008, she released Flavors of Entanglement.

Similar Artists: Poe, Tracy Bonham, Jewel, Fiona Apple

Influenced By: Sinead O'Connor, The Pretenders

Favorite Songs: Ironic, You Oughta Know, Hand in My Pocket, You Learn, Not the Doctor

Formally known as Blake, Hey Monday consists of lead singer, Cassadee Pope, bassist Jersey Moriarty, lead guitarist Mike Gentile, rhythm guitarist Alex Lipshaw, and drummer Elliot James.  They began in West Palm Beach, Florida, when Pope was noticed by many people at a regional music conference.  Though she was still in high school, she teamed up with the rest of the band, they won over the A&R executive Jay Harren, who signed them with Columbia Records. 

“We liked the name Hey Monday because it’s very contradicting,” said Cassadee. “Most people don’t really say they’re happy about a Monday, they view it like it’s the first day of the rest of their week, but Monday can also just be a new beginning”

After being signed, they entered the recording studio with S*A*M and Sluggo, the production team of many other successful bands.  They released their debut album, Hold On Tight, in October of 2008, under a joint partnership of Columbia and Fall Out Boy's Pete Wentz's label, Decaydance.

“We have a variety of styles, but they’re all pretty-much fast and upbeat, because we wanted a fast, upbeat and happy kind of record that makes you tap your feet and puts you in a good mood,” explained Cassadee. “There are heartbroken songs, being in love songs, a song about someone who parties too much… If it’s not all about me, then it’s about someone very close to me who I can feel for. I just wanted to tell a story, to make it like a movie where you can really get to know someone. I wanted people to really get to know me through the lyrics.”

Similar Artists: Paramore, Flyleaf, Evanescence

Favorite Songs: This is another band that was suggested to me to use, and I am going to get their CD as soon as I can

Born in Scarborough, Canada, Fefe Dobson is now 24 years old.  She has three siblings, each with different fathers; her father left the family when she was only a child, and she stopped speaking to him when she was 13.  Her given name is Felicia, but she has always been called Fefe.  Music was always something that was often a part of her life.  Early in her life, she realized that music was something that she really wanted to be a part of.

She didn't have a perfect life as a child, in fact it was far from it.  During school, she had to deal with being bi-racial, and still has scars from it that last far past the last ring of the school bell.  She had many influences that got her interested in music.  From Guns N Roses to Bob Marley, and everything in between, she was influenced lyrically and musically.

“My sister was a huge Nirvana freak,” she said. “She used to close her door and blast ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ on CD. She wouldn’t let me in, but I’d sit there at the bottom of the door with my ear at the crack and just listen. You hear a lot of experience in those songs—they went through things. That music came from Kurt Cobain’s mind, heart, and soul, and there’s a lot of pain in his singing. You can feel it, and go on that journey with him. When you’re young you don’t think, ‘This person is going to change your life.’ But when you start recording your own songs, it comes back and reminds you.”

When she was only 11 years old, she got her first karaoke machine for her birthday.  Immediately she went about recording herself singing songs from Mariah Carey, Janet Jackson, Madonna, and Selena.  When she started sending out her own recordings, she was writing her own songs.  Even at such a young age, she was very serious about making it in the music industry, which led her to be confused at so many rejection letters.  She was accepted at Wexford Collegiate University, and pursued a musical education. 

In 2000, when she was only 15 years old, Zomba Records noticed her talent, and signed her. Throughout the next month, she met with many music producers, who were trying to find a way to create a pop star out of her.  They weren't able to come up with a solution, so the discouraged young singer found herself singing at a bar at 8:30 in the morning.  Luckily, in the bar that morning was Lyor Cohen of Island Def Jam, who wanted to sign her immediately.  She proceeded to get out of the contract with Zomba, and signed with Def Jam.

She then met with producer Jay Levine from Left Hook Productions and began making music with her.  She released two singles in September 2003, which have both gotten a great amount of airplay.  Only three months later, she released her debut, self-titled album, which got sold over 15,000 more than it was expected to.

The album got her awards and more recognition, and she has recorded music for the Hannah Montana 2 CD, as well as the TV show Lipstick Jungle, and her song "Watch Me Move" will be the theme song for Margaret Cho's TV show.  Her second album, Sunday Love, was released in 2006.

Similar Artists: Avril Lavigne, Toby Lightman, Nikka Costa, Michelle Branch

Influenced By: Alanis Morissette, Neneh Cherry, The Bangles, TLC, Nirvana

Favorite Songs: This was another artist that was suggested to me, and I haven't listened to any of her music, but I've heard many good things about her.  So we can both check out her music :]

Alison Sudol was a born in Seattle but grew up in L.A. from the age of 5.  Though she was always interested in music, it wasn't until she was in her teens that she started playing an instrument: the piano.  She composed a few pieces and sent out a demo.  The response from Capitol Record's Jason Flom was immediate.  He went to her house and listened to the young singer/songwriter, and signed her. 

She went with the name A Fine Frenzy, which came from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.  In March 2007, she appeared at the SXSW and opened for the Stooges.  Later that year, she released her full-length debut album, One Cell in the Sea, and accompanied Rufus Wainwright on his tour that summer.

Similar Artists: Mat Kearny, Michelle Branch, Snow Patrol

Influenced By: Coldplay, Keane, Aqualung, Tori Amos, Sarah McLachlan

Favorite Songs: The Minnow and the Trout, Whisper, You Picked Me, Think of You, Near to You, Hope for the Hopeless     (I need to get her album soon)

Twins Tegan and Sara Quin were born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, about 8 minutes apart.  They both began playing the piano at age 8.  They began playing guitar at age 15, in 1995.  In 1998, they entered a garage band contest, and won.  In mid-2000, they released their first CD, The Business of Art.  The following summer, they were touring.  Two years later, they released If It Was You.  2004 showed the release of So Jealous, and in 2007, The Con, which they teamed up with Death Cab for Cutie's Chris Walla to produce.

They had a very interesting way of preparing for the 2004 release of So Jealous.  They would write and record demos in their respective rooms.  Having written a total of 26 songs, they recruited drummer Rob Chursinoff and bassist Chris Carlson for album rehearsals at Vancouver's legendary Renegade Studios.  Because they wanted to stay true to their vision, Rob was forced to rehearse his drum parts alone to the sound of what became known as "the bedroom demos."  He was quoted saying that the technique was "stupid" (but I think it's pretty creative).

A month later, the band went to Musroom Studios, and were happy to discover that their strict rehearsal regimen of dynamics exercises, Greek food, magazine reading, and drumming to bedroom demo CDs had produced exciting musical results.

Because they want to keep from arguing, they live in separate areas, Tegan residing in Vancouver, BC and Sara in Montreal, QC.  They label their sound to be indie/ pop/ alternative, and they definitely deliver it very well.

Similar Artists: Eisley, Metric, Rilo Kiley, Feist, Azure Ray

Influenced By: The Tragically Hip, Michelle Shocked, Ani DeFranco, Tori Amos

Favorite Songs: Back in Your Head, My Number     (another group who's cds I need to get soon) :]