By MEREDITH HUMPHREY, Special to Bootleg Essential Culture
Caillat’s house was filled with music as a child. Her father was an audio enginner who produced Fleetwood Mac’s Rumors and Tusk.
MySpace is not just for pre-teens and bored middle aged men. It’s still a haven for budding musicians and can be solely responsibly for launching otherwise unknown artists. Just ask Colbie Caillat.
The 22-year old California native began writing at age 19 and posted songs on Myspace once she had a strong collection. The first three months brought a weak response until she added the single “Bubbly.” Suddenly her site was getting thousands of hits a day and she became the number one unsigned artist on MySpace for four months. She was featured as a top female artist on MySpace in Rolling Stone and soon signed with Universal Republic.
“The great thing about MySpace is that you can build up an army of fans and then when you go to a record company, there’s no point in them trying to change what you do because it’s already been tried and tested,” said Caillat.
If her MySpace friends enjoyed “Bubbly” they are sure to hang on every drop of her album “Coco.” Songs such as “The Little Things” and “Realize” do not stray far from “Bubbly’s” soft, melodic harmonies—picture Josh Stone’s more mellow little sister.
Caillat is touring and recording duets with another MySpace favorite—Jason Reeves. The Iowa native’s sound compliments Caillat’s almost too perfectly with his smooth voice and only slightly more upbeat acoustic guitar in the singles “Permanent” and “Paint it Golden.”
