Paramore
the power of the vaguely worded blog post.
On Friday (February 22), less than 24 hours after a post she wrote on Paramore’s Web site inadvertently started a cavalcade of rather nasty breakup rumors, Williams took to the blog once again, this time hoping to clear up all confusion about the state of her band.
“Since we posted the last entry, we’ve gotten tons of phone calls and people posting things on Web sites saying that we are breaking up. I just want to make it clear, though … we weren’t saying the band was over,” she wrote. “We posted because we are going through hard times and we felt that because we have a really good support system in you guys, our fans, it would be better for us to just be honest about what’s going on — even though it was a pretty vague explanation.”
She’s not kidding, either. Williams’ post — and the rather vague mentions of “internal issues” contained within — was picked up by nearly every Paramore fan site and celeb-gossip spot across the Net, causing a panic among fans and kicking up some particularly insane rumors in the process, including one that the feisty frontwoman was breaking up the band because she was pregnant. All of this made for a rather colossal headache for Williams, who claims she was just trying to be honest with the band’s fanbase about why Paramore cancelled their European tour. (Note to Hayley: This is the Internet. Vagueness + honesty = danger!)
“Man, some of the rumors that I’ve heard going around are insane! It’s weird how out of hand things can get even when you just try to tell a simple truth (for the record, my Eggo is not preggo),” Williams wrote. “Anyway, we just need to take time to make this band the best it can be … and we are doing that now.”
Thursday, when contacted by MTV News for comment on Paramore’s status, a spokesperson for their label, Atlantic Records, would only offer that they’re scheduled to shoot a video for the song “That’s What You Get” in Nashville on March 2-3, and then will embark on a co-headlining tour with Jimmy Eat World in April. And in that spirit, Williams ended her latest blog post with a scheduling reminder of her own — mainly that fans can count on seeing Paramore take the stage March 27 at the Hard Rock in Orlando.
“Thanks for all the love and the encouragement you guys have shown,” she wrote. “And WE WILL! be seeing you guys on the 27th of March in Orlando, FL.”
NME reports that pop-punkers Paramore plan to head back into the studio this fall to work on the followup to 2007’s hit album Riot!. The band’s reporting that this album will be quite a bit different than their first two, featuring some of the softest songs the band has ever written as well as some of the hardest they’ve ever written. The band are currently touring the U.S.
Camp Rock
April 01, 2008 The movie will premiere on Disney Channel, ABC (as part of the Wonderful World of Disney franchise), ABC Family, Radio Disney and Disney.com in Disney XD from June 20-23 in the U.S. It will also premiere on Family Channel Canada and on Quebec’s VRAK.TV (dubbed in French) on June 20 and on Disney Channels around the world beginning in August. Meanwhile, the “Camp Rock” soundtrack will release June 17 from Walt Disney Records, and the DVD, with exclusive bonus features, will release around the world beginning Aug. 19 from Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment.
Subscribe to the Hollywood Reporter and see the entertainment industry from its best angle: the inside looking out. Complete access to real-time news and exclusive analysis that goes behind the scenes from film to television, home video to digital media.
Colbie Callait
Colbie Callait’s has released a music video for her current first single “Bubbly” from her debut album ‘Coco’ – set to arrive on store shelves on July 17th. Colbie will tour this summer with Lifehouse and the Goo Goo Dolls.
Ever since her mom gave birth to her in their Malibu home overlooking the ocean, Colbie Caillat has been the quintessential California girl. Her idea of a good time is hanging out with her friends at a beach bonfire or hopping in the car, tunes at the ready, and driving up the Pacific Coast Highway.
On ‘Coco,’ her Universal Republic debut, the songs mirror Caillat’s low-key, refreshing style. Armed with her acoustic guitar and her dusky vocals, she evokes the same gentle, yet spirited style of her musical influences John Mayer, Bob Marley, Lauryn Hill and The Weepies.
As befits the organic style of her music, Caillat’s fan base has grown by word of mouth, one person at a time. Last year, she began posting her songs on her myspace.com; tunes like “Bubbly,” a delightful confection about romance, and “Tailor Made,” Caillat’s joyful message to her sister over seeing her sibling find the perfect mate.
With no marketing push and only the power of the music behind her, Caillat became a sensation on the social networking site. Last October when she had 6,240 friends, Rolling Stone highlighted her as one of the top female artists on MySpace. Ultimately, Caillat became the #l unsigned artist for over four months and her number of friends swelled to more than 100,000. Her profile has been visited over 3 million times, and she has more than l0 million plays.
Coldplay
have completed recording on their eagerly-awaited fourth album, which is currently being mixed.
The album, the follow-up to 2005’s ‘X&Y’, has been produced by Brian Eno, Markus Dravs and the band themselves, and is expected to be released sometime in the summer.
The band’s manager, Dave Holmes, said: “They’re in the final mixing [stage]. They’ll start mastering, and away we go. I think it’s their best album. They’ve really delivered. It’s a fantastic record.”
No final title has yet been announced, although there has been continual speculation that the album will be called ‘Prospekt’, which the band has denied.
Speaking to Billboard, Holmes also shed light on the band’s plans for touring, which will include a collaboration with set designer and lighting expert Paul Normandale.
He said: “If we can pull this off it’s going to be quite different. We’re going to try something a little different in the arena space.
“They’re really looking forward to touring and getting back out there.”
The Shockwaves NME Awards 2008 are coming soon – and it’s time to have your say. Vote now by heading to NME.COM/awardsvote and you could win VIP tickets to the ceremony, which takes place in London on February 28.
Boys Like Girls
Unafraid to wear their heart on their collective sleeve, Boston-based pop/rock outfit Boys Like Girls feature singer/guitarist Martin Johnson, bassist Bryan Donahue, drummer John Keefe, and guitarist Paul DiGiovanni (the last two being cousins). After Boys Like Girls posted some early demos online, the band’s catchy hooks and youthful enthusiasm had gathered them quite a following by 2005’s end, while also catching the attention of industry players like booking agent Matt Galle (My Chemical Romance, Taking Back Sunday) and producer Matt Squire (Panic! at the Disco, Northstar), who both contacted the band about working together. Following a national PureVolume-sponsored tour with Hit the Lights and A Thorn for Every Heart, Boys Like Girls entered the studio with Squire to record their debut album. The resulting self-titled effort appeared in August 2006 on Red Ink. ~ Corey Apar, All Music Guide
Sara Bareilles
As a gifted singer and a versatile pianist with no formal training, Sara Bareilles burst onto the pop scene with a naturally skilled voice ranging from powerful and soulful to sweet and gentle, earning her instant comparisons to Fiona Apple and Norah Jones. At age 18, she left the Redwood forests of her hometown, Eureka, CA, in pursuit of the big city lights of Los Angeles.
Although she attended UCLA’s Communication Studies program, Bareilles spent the majority of her spare time studying her new environment and writing poetry and songs about the busy surroundings. After graduating, she spent the next three years performing those songs at open-mike nights, slowly building her confidence as a musician before playing local venues and festivals. In 2003, she co-produced her first demo, Careful Confessions, and became enthralled with recording techniques. Eager to go back to the studio and create a second full-length album, she started shopping her CD around and signed a deal with Epic Records in April 2005.
Producer Eric Rosse took her under his wing the following February and the two spent a little over a year perfecting the orchestration — nearly half of the songs had formerly appeared on Careful Confessions and a new batch of tracks was carefully constructed in order to make her first major-label release as strong as possible. The lyrical themes of the album, entitled Little Voice and released in July 2007, covered her past relationships, insecurities, and inner battles with trying to trust her instincts.
Katy Perry
I think people can appreciate a songwriter who shows different sides,” says Katy Perry. “The whole angst thing is cool, but if that’s all you’ve got, it’s just boring. Everything I write, whether it’s happy or sad, has a sense of humor to it. Someone told me the other day that I’m a bit like Lucille Ball. They said, ‘You look pretty put together on the outside, but inside there’s just something a bit wrong.’”
Comparisons to Lucille Ball only tell half the story. Now if Lucille Ball had a secret love child with Queen frontman Freddie Mercury, it would look, sound, and behave like Katy Perry. The L.A-based singer-songwriter’s sassy confidence and feisty confessional songs have already had fans and savvy media singing her praises, even before her new EP, Ur So Gay, is released by Capitol Records on November 20th, 2007. Blender Magazine called her “The Next Big Thing” while Teen People dubbed her “One to Watch.” And no less a harbinger of ‘what’s hot’ than celeb blogger Perez Hilton wrote of Perry on his website: “If Avril Lavigne were actually talented, pretty, and had an appealing personality, she’d be Katy Perry. She’s got the whole package!”
“I don’t care who I’m compared to as long as people listen to the music,” Perry says. “Usually I find it funny to say I’m like a skinnier version of Lily Allen and a fatter version of Amy Winehouse. It always renders a good chuckle.” It’s that sort of cheeky comment that encapsulates Perry’s irrepressible sense of humor, which shines through on songs like “Ur So Gay” (a hilarious kiss-off to an ex) and “Waking Up in Vegas,” which is about doing just that. Her upcoming debut album for Capitol Records, due in Spring 2008, will also feature several honest, searching ballads, like “Lost,” (about trying to find yourself after losing your way) and the regretful, emotional “Thinking of You,” both of which display a more vulnerable side to this talented, multi-dimensional artist. Perhaps that dichotomy stems in part from Perry’s upbringing. The middle child of two pastors, Perry grew up listening to gospel music and singing in church in Santa Barbara, CA. “My dad would give me ten dollars, which is a lot of money when you’re nine, to sing at church, on tables at restaurants, at family functions, just about anywhere,” she says. Perry was raised on a strict diet of church music; “secular music,” as her mother put it, was “not allowed.” But one night during a slumber party, Perry happened upon a Queen record “and the heavens opened and saved me. From then on, they have been my biggest influence,” she says. “Their musicality and lyrics were so flamboyant and real. I’d never heard anything like it.”
By the time she was 15, Perry was determined to pursue a path in music. She spent some time in Nashville working with professional songwriters — “these seasoned country music vets who had been writing songs for forever” — and honing her own songwriting skills. “Every single one of my songs is drawn 100 percent directly from my life.”
At 17, Perry hooked up with legendary producer and songwriter Glen Ballard, who spent years guiding and developing her talent and songwriting. The strength of the songs and Perry’s big voice captured the attention of Jason Flom, Chairman & CEO of Capitol Music Group, who signed her in Spring 2007. “I’ve been through a lot of highs and a lot of lows in this business,” says Perry, who’s now 22. “Last year was tough. I’d write a check for my rent and next to it, I’d write, ‘Please, God, please.’ But I didn’t jump off the Hollywood sign. Everything always works out for the best.”
Indeed it has, as Perry has just wrapped up work on her debut full-length album, which she recorded with an array of noted producers and collaborators, including Ballard (Alanis Morissette, No Doubt), Dave Stewart (Eurythmics), Dr. Luke (Kelly Clarkson, Avril Lavigne), Butch Walker (Pink, The Donnas), Sam Hollander & Dave Katz (Gym Class Heroes) and Greg Wells (Mika, Natasha Bedingfield, Rufus Wainwright). She’s also been keeping busy performing lowkey acoustic shows at Hollywood’s renowned Hotel Café (hey, it keeps her off TMZ), as well as landing high-profile opening gigs for artists as diverse as Mika, Puffy AmiYumi, and The Starting Line.
Whether it’s by hearing her music on MTV’s The Hills, Oxygen Network’s Fight Girls, the soundtrack to the film Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, or by seeing her emotional performance on ABC Family’s hit Wildfire, people are now taking notice of Perry. She’s also unleashed her considerable charisma making cameos in the videos for Gym Class Heroes‘ “Cupid’s Chokehold,” which has been viewed on YouTube more than 18 million times, as well as appeared in a video for P.O.D. In addition, her face has graced ads for Too-Faced Cosmetics’ Spring 2007 line. All these things, and more, have people wondering: “Who’s that girl?”
Perry, however, doesn’t put too much stock in the acting or modeling, or the whole media fame game for that matter. “It’s become about who’s showing up at what party, who’s dating whom, and what plastic surgery they’ve had,” she says. “I want to bring it all back to the music. Pop stars are hard to relate to because they are so scared of being vulnerable or real and afraid that people will exploit their flaws. I on the other hand, celebrate my flaws and actually welcome them. Flaws give us character and at the end of the day, I want people to see me as that girl they can relate to, talk to, and have a good laugh with.”
A former Christian artist who ditched the sacred sounds of CCM for a secular mix of sass and spunk, Katy Perry combines the cheeky, club-ready pop music of Lily Allen with the commercial pop/rock of Avril Lavigne and Alanis Morissette. Born on October 25, 1984, in Santa Barbara, CA, she grew up in a Christian household as the daughter of two pastors. Though she was not allowed to listen to secular music as a child, Perry later found herself captivated by Alanis Morissette and Freddie Mercury, having discovered Queen’s music during a slumber party. Religious music remained at the forefront, however, and Perry released a self-titled Christian album in 2001 under the name Katy Hudson. She would later abandon the genre in favor of a pop career.
At age 17, the burgeoning songwriter began working with hitmaker Glen Ballard, who had produced and co-written Alanis Morissette’s chart-topping Jagged Little Pill in 1995. Several years later, she teamed up with the Matrix, a Grammy-nominated production/songwriting team whose résumé includes collaborations with Avril Lavigne, Shakira, and Korn. Tired of producing music for other artists, the Matrix had plans to record their own album with Perry serving as one of the group’s two singers. The project was ultimately shelved, but not before Perry appeared in a 2004 write-up by Blender magazine, who hailed her as “The Next Big Thing!”
With the Matrix’s unreleased album sitting in the vaults at Sony Records, Perry went back to the drawing board and ultimately signed with Columbia in 2007. Her debut single, “UR So Gay,” generated some online buzz with its mischievous lyrics and accompanying music video. However, “I Kissed a Girl” proved to be her true breakthrough single, topping the charts in 20 countries and pushing its accompanying album, 2008’s One of the Boys, into the Top Ten in America. Perry supported her debut by joining the Warped Tour that summer and appearing in an episode of The Young and the Restless. Andrew Leahey & Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide
Kate Voegele
Singer/songwriter Kate Voegele grew up outside Cleveland in the suburban locale of Bay Village, OH, where she began singing in her church choir at age ten. Though her father had always played the guitar around the house during her childhood, it wasn’t until she entered high school that Voegele first picked up the instrument with any seriousness. Spurred on by a teenaged breakup, she began to write songs while seeking musical guidance from her father, who also convinced her to let him record her work. One of those demos managed to find its way into the hands of a Warner Bros. representative at a Michelle Branch concert, and soon Voegele had garnered some major-label interest, particularly from Madonna’s imprint on the WB label, Maverick Records. In 2003, the burgeoning musician recorded a five-song EP entitled The Other Side with help from producer Michael Seifert. Before long, Voegele was opening at Farm Aid in Seattle and performing in the Women in Rock set at South By Southwest, as well as playing numerous label showcases and shows around Cleveland. In the fall of 2006, the college-aged Voegele was officially signed to MySpace Records, a new label that released her full-length debut, Don’t Look Away, the following spring. Marisa Brown, All Music Guide
Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift has been singing all her life, motivated by her grandmother, who was a professional opera singer. She began performing locally around her town and county at the age of ten, and at age 11 sang the national anthem before a Philadelphia 76ers game. By the time she was 12, she had picked up the guitar and began practicing four hours each day, until her fingers started to bleed. Swift’s parents began to support her music, and recognized her talent, perseverance, and budding future as a professional musician. The family began making regular visits to Nashville, TN, where Swift would perform casually and meet with songwriters in the area. The family decided to move to an outlying Nashville suburb, which accelerated Swift’s career. While performing at a showcase at Nashville’s Bluebird Café, Swift caught the eye of music industry veteran Scott Borchetta. He had plans to create a new label and decided Swift was one of the first acts he wanted to sign. Still a high school student fascinated by love (which she uses as her muse), she released her debut single, “Tim McGraw,” in August 2006, followed by a self-titled album that October. Megan Frye, All Music Guide
