Michelle Shocked was born Michelle Johnston in Dallas, TX, in 1962, where she spent her early childhood traveling around army bases. In 1977, she ran away by her Mormon fundamentalist mother to live with her father, who released her to nation bluesmen extreme Bill Broonzy and Leadbelly, as well as contemporary songwriters Guy Clark and Randy Newman. She spent the next various years exploring the folk underg ...

Charlyne Yi is an actress who pursued a career in stand-up comedy after attending the University of California.So far, she has performed at The Steve Allen Theater, The Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, in the New York Comedy Festival and HBO's Comedy Arts Festival in Colorado. In 2007, Yi made her acting debut in the movie Knocked Up. The following year, she participated in Montreal's Just for Laughs Festi ...

Eighteen year old Caitlyn Taylor Love is an exceptionally talented singer/songwriter/actress and dancer through Harlingen Texas. With extremely few outlets locally for perpertaining toming, Caitlyn’s entertainment aspirations had her cut-throat at the age of TEN during the Miss Texas Pageant during the Talent Division. Not merely did she won the Talent Division, she was furthermore crowned Miss Texas Jr. Pr ...

Caroline LaVelle's 1995 debut Spirit elicited instant comparisons to Enya for its combination of breathy vocals, pop song structures, and glistening, new age, electronic-tinged arrangements. That comparison, unfortunately, may scare off some listeners who would like LaVelle. Her music is far more somber, and less inclined to fairytale, mythic ambience. Her voice, too, is far deeper and more reserved, eschew ...

Born March 13, 1940, in Hanceville, AL, Candi Stanton sang with the Jewell Gospel Trio as a teenager. They toured the traditional gospel circuit in the 1950s with the Soul Stirrers, C.L. Franklin, and Mahalia Jackson. They recorded several sides for Nashboro, Apollo, and Savoy Records between 1953 and 1963. In 1968 Staton launched solo career as a Southern soul stylist, garnering 16 R&B hits for Rick Ha ...

A fixture on the female Americana landscape, Kathleen Edwards was born in Ottawa, Canada, the daughter of foreign service parents who played piano and guitar in their spare time. At five, Edwards began to study classical violin, which continued through her early teens. At that point, the Edwards family moved overseas. Removed from the influence of mainstream North American pop music, Edwards delved into her ...

Long a critic's darling, singer/guitarist Bonnie Raitt did not begin to win the comparable commercial success due her until the release of the aptly titled 1989 blockbuster Nick of Time; her tenth album, it rocketed her into the mainstream consciousness nearly two decades after she first committed her unique blend of blues, rock, and R&B to vinyl. Born in Burbank, CA, on November 8, 1949, she was the da ...

A perennial cult favorite in Northern soul circles, singer Bettye LaVette was born in Muskegon, Michigan, on January 29, 1946. Raised primarily across the state in Detroit, at 16 she cut her first sides for the local Lupine label, with a test pressing of the disc making its way to Atlantic Records. After signing with Atlantic, she scored an R&B Top Ten hit out of the box with her debut single, "My Man - ...

Los Angeles-based blues-rocker Beth Hart began playing piano at age four, later attending L.A.'s High School for the Performing Arts as a vocal and cello major. By 1993, she was a regular fixture of the local club circuit, by 1993 collaborating with bassist Tal Herzberg and guitarist Jimmy Khoury; with the addition of drummer Sergio Gonzalez early the following year, the Beth Hart Band was complete, and aft ...

Hailed as "the best thing since Patti Smith" by Brian Eno, as well as being included on the BBC's Sound of 2011 list, the hype surrounding London-born Anna Calvi came to fruition during late 2010. Gaining critical acclaim among music journalists, Calvi drew comparisons with the passionate and brooding musicianship of the likes of Nick Cave and Polly Jean Harvey. The dense and rich musical influences that in ...