Jay Brannan is a Texas born singer, actor, and songwriter. After finding homes all over the country to live in, and briefly attending University of Cincinnati's acting school, he decided to plant his feet down in New York City. Brannan was cast in 2003 for the movie Shortbus, directed by John Cameron Mitchell. He contributed the song Soda Shop to the film's soundtrack, which he stated was his "first professionally recorded track".
Honestly I don't know how I sound the way I do - My ears are always switched on searching for cool and unusual sounds. I hear them in the hustle and bustle of city streets, building sites, cafes, and playgrounds. I have a vivid imagination, and can tune out and step right into a dream, at the drop of a hat. My friends think that my head is in the clouds and my producer Jonathan Zion thinks there is no doubt about it. This doesn't bother me at all, it's how I write my songs. It's very magical. I just sit at my piano, gaze out my window and dream.
Jesca Ada Hoop is a American singer-songwriter and guitarist from Northern California, who performs music that covers differing genres. Her musical mentor has been Tom Waits. One of five children in a fifth generation Mormon couple, Hoop was steeped in a musical environment created by her family. She began performing as a child and starred in her high school choir. Hoop broke away from the strictures of Mormonism just as her parents were separating.
Brianna Carpenter remembers her childhood and the times she used to play Barbies whilst listening to Elton John. Ever since then Brianna has been fascinated by song writing and has developed through other musical influences such as Jamie Cullum, Ben Folds Regina Spektor and Bic Runga. Brianna now creates a mix of Folky Alternative Pop. Even though she was born completely deaf in one ear this has not stopped Brianna’s drive to compose. Brianna began song writing at the age of 13 and after writing her first real song "The Web" people started to recognize her talent.
Luka Bloom (born 23 May 1955 as Barry Moore) is an accomplished Irish folk-rock singer-songwriter. He is also the younger brother of Irish folk singer Christy Moore. In order to avoid the pressure of being related to Christy Moore, Bloom adopted his pseudonym. "Luka" is taken from the title of Suzanne Vega's song "Luka" about child abuse and "Bloom" refers to the main character in James Joyce's Ulysses. Bloom is, however, very forthcoming about being Moore's brother and does not hide behind his stage name.
Ingrid Michaelson is a U.S. singer-songwriter whose hit single "The Way I Am" peaked at #37 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. She took up piano at the age of five, attending Manhattan's Third Street Music School for two years, going on to the Jewish Community Center of Staten Island's Dorothy Delson Kuhn Music Institute. There she met vocal coach Elizabeth McCullough, who worked with her through high school. She is a graduate of Staten Island Technical High School and Binghamton University, where she received a degree in theatre.
Major Napier is a sexy mynx from country Victoria, Australia.
Jonah Matranga is a singer, songwriter and guitarist who has released a variety of solo material under both his own name and Onelinedrawing, and has previously been part of the bands Far, New End Original (an anagram of “onelinedrawing”) and Gratitude. Jonah Matranga grew up in and around Boston, Massachusetts. He left in 1987 to attend Pitzer College in Claremont, California, where he majored in English. After College, Jonah moved to Sacramento, where he lived for 8 years. Jonah married in April 1994, and his daughter was born that August.
Mary Gauthier (born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in 1962) is an American folk singer/songwriter. Given up at birth by a mother she never knew, Mary was adopted. At age 15, she ran away from home and stole her parents' car, and spent the next several years in detox, halfway houses, and living with friends; she spent her 18th birthday in jail. These experiences provided fodder for her songwriting later on (particularly her song "Drag Queens in Limousines").
