Shelly Fraley is one of the many great singer-songwriters I've discovered through One Tree Hill and you should all give this girl's music a try, especially if you're into catchy indie pop songs to sing along with! I've included Shelly's selfwritten biography because of the lack of time and that I could not say it better myself.
I’d like to say I knew I’d pursue music in one form or another from the time I was in the womb, but let’s be honest, I can’t remember that far back. So, If I have to pick an age, I’d have to say four, which is when I remember writing my first “lyrics.” I couldn’t understand why my mom laughed when I used the phrase “you keep cracking me up” in a breakup song (yes, at four)! From those first lyrics until now, I’ve been a songwriter at heart. I never thought of myself as a great singer, but I always loved the process of writing and creating something that was my own. I started learning piano on a Casio keyboard with little sticker letters on the keys to learn the notes when I was about eight. Growing up on a farm in nowhere Kansas lent to plenty of “down-time” to learn the piano and create music, silly as it may have been. My first semi “official” recordings were done at my church in my tiny town on an out of tune piano. I still have the cassettes and laugh at them on occasion. Although I had fun with music, and loved creating it as a kid, I had a pretty sheltered childhood as far as my musical influences go. It wasn’t until my early twenties when I started writing and playing with other musicians that I began discovering music that I had no idea existed. Music from artists such as The Cardigans, Ben Folds, Ben Harper, Beck, Radiohead, U2, Muse, Sheryl Crow, and many others pushed me to want to write better, more interesting songs. Since those days, I’ve recorded several songs. Some of them I love, others not so much; some are dark, and some are hopeful; but, ultimately, they all come from an honest place. My most recent is what I consider my first “official” solo project, an EP entitled
“Up Up & Away.” It’s a collection of 5 songs that sum up my first year in Tennessee and my last year in Kansas. From the title track, “Up Up & Away,” a song about coming from a dark, unhappy place, into a more positive hopeful place - to “I Don’t Know,” a song about having to make the heartbreaking decision of ending a relationship, all of the songs are really about what I know best… my life.
Fallulah is one of my most recent discoveries. Fallulah, 24 year old Maria Apetri, will surely join the ranks of Bat For Lashes, Jenny Wilson and Marina & The Diamonds, as part of the new emerging wave of proud, bold and adventurous female popartists. Fallulah creates popmusic with finesse, integrity and a fiery, hot- tempered feel of Central Europe. Her songs defy genres and contain subtle elements of classic pop, rock´n´roll, indie, balkan, jazz and r&b. They are energetic and highly physical, which is reflected live, when Fallulah is backed by a tight quartet that plays with a teenth-grinding, feet-stomping bluesy rawness. Fallulah´s debutalbum “The Black Cat Neighbourhood” is a minimalistic horn-of-plenty; extremely ambitious and focused, but at the same time organic, personal and with an infectious, rogue energy; The catchy melodies are arranged around propulsive beats, playful percussion, folkloric strings, piano, choir, glockenspiel and dry, stabbing guitars. The album was released in February 2010 and succeeds the single “I Lay My Head”, which immediately became “Song of the week” on the highly influential Danish P3 Radio.
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