Sara Bareilles

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Sara Bareilles is used to being compared to her peers. The fact that she is young, female, a singer/songwriter and a pianist often draws comparisons to the likes of Norah Jones and Fiona Apple. Though Sara doesn't mind being in such talented company, she does want people to know that she has her own voice, and what a voice it is!This native of Eureka, California has no formal training in voice or piano but that didn't stop her from making music. During her high school years, she participated in school choirs and local community musical theater. She also appeared in her high school's production of the cult musical favorite, Little Shop of Horrors. Upon graduation, she went to UCLA, where she studied Communications and became a member of the college's a cappella group, Awaken. She graduated in 2002, but two short years later the group recorded their own rendition of Sara's song, Gravity, which appeared on the group's compilation CD called Best of College A Cappella 2004.Once Sara finished college, she did the local bar and club circuit, and quickly gained her own following. It wouldn't be long before she found herself performing in larger venues with some of the top names in the business. In 2003, she recorded two demos, The First One and The Summer Sessions, which contained predominantly live tracks in order to showcase Sara's strong voice. In 2004, she played a singer in the indie film, Girl Play, which also gave her a chance to show off her singing talents.Sara didn't realize it at the time, but 2004 marked the start of a roller coaster ride that would really bring her singing career to a whole different level. In January of that year, Sara released her first studio album, Careful Confessions. On April 15, 2005 (tax day!) she signed a contract with major label, Epic Records, and spent the latter half of that year and the early part of 2006 writing and crafting songs for what was to become her first major label album, Little Voice.In 2007, Sara hit the road to promote her album. The girl who just 5 years before was performing in small venues soon began to open up for acts like Aqualung, Mika, Rocco DeLuca and Maroon 5. During the summer of 2007, iTunes featured Sara's single, Love Song, as the free single of the week. A month later, her album became the #1 downloaded album in the iTunes music store and it debuted at #45 on the Billboard 200 chart. Not bad for her first major album! After her single was featured on a Rhapsody commercial, it began to climb the charts at an incredible rate, and by the end of 2007 it was in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100.It is only the beginning for Sara. During this month and through March, Sara will be touring with James Blunt on VH1's You Oughta Know tour. After that, the sky's the limit for this talented young woman, whose musical influences vary from Radiohead and Bjork to Etta James and Sam Cooke. Her beautiful voice, emotion filled songs and consummate piano skills have already been appreciated by many music lovers. The team here at Young Hollywood is always willing to lend an ear when it comes to quality music and we can't wait for the masses to catch on to Sara! To find out more about Sara, get tour info, and read her online journal, check out www.sarabmusic.com.You can also check out Sara's video for the hit single, "Love Song," at musicbox.sonybmg.com/videos/sara-bareilles/love-song.