Vanessa Carlton - Biography

Vanessa Lee Carlton (born August 16, 1980) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. Upon completion of her education at the School of American Ballet, Carlton chose to pursue singing instead, performing in New York bars and clubs while attending university. Three months after recording a demo with producer Peter Zizzo, she signed with A&M Records. She began recording her album, which was initially unsuccessful until Ron Fair took over. Her debut single, "A Thousand Miles", reached the top five on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2002. Her debut album, Be Not Nobody, followed and received platinum certification in the United States. Her subsequent albums, Harmonium (2004) and Heroes & Thieves (2007), failed to exceed the commercial success of the first. She produced a fourth album, Rabbits on the Run (2011) independently before sourcing for a record label to release it.

Life and career

Childhood and youth

Carlton was born in Milford, Pennsylvania to Ed Carlton, a pilot, and Heidi, a pianist and school music teacher. She has two younger siblings, a sister, Gwen, and a brother, Edmund. Her uncle, Larry Carlton, is a jazz guitarist. Her mother is of Russian Jewish descent and her father is of Scandinavian ancestry. Her interest in music began at an early age: after returning from Disneyland at the age of two, she played "It's a Small World" on the piano. Her mother then began to tutor her. Carlton's mother exposed her to the works of various classical composers such as W.A. Mozart and Erik Satie. Through her father, she was exposed to classic-rock artists such as Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin. She developed an interest in ballet at the age of nine; she was accepted at the School of American Ballet at age 14 while attending high school at the Professional Children's School. At age 18, she decided to devote her time to piano-playing and songwriting, choosing not to become a dancer on graduation. Instead, she attended Columbia University and performed in bars and clubs in Manhattan, New York, while waitressing in Hell's Kitchen.

2002–2003: Be Not Nobody

Carlton first met songwriter/producer Peter Zizzo at a singer-songwriter circle. A few months later, Zizzo invited Carlton to his studio to record a demo. Three months after recording the demo, Carlton was signed by Jimmy Iovine and began to record the album, Rinse. It was never released, but a few tracks were reworked for Be Not Nobody. One song, "Carnival", was re-recorded as "Dark Carnival" for the Spy Hunter 2 video game. Other tracks included in Rinse are "Interlude" (later known as A Thousand Miles), "Rinse", "Ordinary Days" (later known as "Ordinary Day"), "Twilight", "Pretty Baby", "All I Ask" and "Superhero". Of these, only the first five are included in her first album, Be Not Nobody. Other unreleased tracks from her early demo tapes include "Faces", "Meggy Sue", "Little Mary", "Burden", "Wonder", "Devil Dance" and "Last Fall".

With her previous unsuccessful recording efforts, Carlton felt there was a lack of direction at her label. However, A&M president Ron Fair upon hearing her demo to "A Thousand Miles", began organizing recording sessions for the song, producing and arranging the song himself. It became a hit, peaking inside the top five on the Billboard Hot 100 and went on to become the sixth-most-played song of the year, as well as garnering Grammy Award nominations for "Record of the Year", "Song of the Year", and "Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s)". Fair would produce the rest of the album. Be Not Nobody was subsequently released in April 2002 and debuted at number five on the Billboard 200 albums chart with 102,000 units sold. It went on to sell more than two million copies worldwide. Two more singles, "Ordinary Day" and "Pretty Baby" were released. Carlton began touring in support of her debut album, opening for the Goo Goo Dolls and Third Eye Blind, before headlining her own tour at the end of 2002. She later toured Europe in 2003.

Carlton had collaborated with other artists before the release of her second album. She provided the descant vocals for the Counting Crows song "Big Yellow Taxi", played piano for Italian singer Zucchero, along with Haylie Ecker on violin, for the song "Indaco Dagli Occhi Del Cielo" and provided backing vocals for "Moving On" by Kimya Dawson for her album Hidden Vagenda.

2004–2005: Harmonium

Carlton's second album, Harmonium was released in November 2004. Harmonium debuted at number 33 on the Billboard 200 and descended quickly after; selling less than 150,000 copies as of February 2006, which was considered a disappointment after her successful debut. It was produced by Stephan Jenkins from Third Eye Blind, and included darker themes than those on her debut. Carlton and Jenkins met and began a relationship in mid-2002, when she and rock band Third Eye Blind, of which Jenkins is lead singer, were on tour together. After seeing Carlton perform live, Jenkins entered her dressing room and expressed interest in producing her music, and according to Carlton they "decided very quickly, that we had the same vision for the album". Carlton credited Jenkins with helping her to withstand and protect herself from pressures the record label executives, who wanted to influence the recording process, placed on her. According to Carlton, her label "wasn't very happy" about the decisions she made during the making of the album. Carlton stated that the album contained more of her own aesthetic as opposed to Be Not Nobody which was more influenced by Ron Fair. A single, "White Houses", released to radio in late-August 2004, peaking at number 86 on the "Billboard" Hot 100. MTV censored and later banned the single's music video because of a controversial lyric in the song that refers to sexual intercourse. Carlton attributed the censoring of the song to the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show controversy involving Janet Jackson which had occurred earlier that year. The second single, "Who's to Say", was issued following the surprise success of "White Houses" and became another hit, peaking at number six in the U.S. Other singles include "Private Radio" (number seven) and "Afterglow" (number ten).

To support the album, Carlton embarked on a North American concert tour, which began on October 21, and concluded on November 21; her opening act was Low Millions. A second tour, with Cary Brothers and Ari Hest as supporting acts, ran from March 9 to April 30. Carlton left A&M Records in mid-2005 as she felt that her nonconformist attitude would have created problems for her at the label in the future. A&M Records had sent Carlton into the recording studio because they wanted to re-release Harmonium, whereas Carlton felt the album should be celebrated as it was. During her studio time, in which she wrote songs with Linda Perry and The Matrix, she had what she called a "revelation" about leaving the label to find another record deal once promotion for Harmonium had ended.

2006–2008: Heroes & Thieves

In August 2005, Carlton said she was to enter the recording studio the following month with producer Linda Perry, with whom she had previously collaborated after executives at A&M Records sent her into the studio to record a re-release single for Harmonium. The album was influenced by Carlton's breakup with its co-producer, Stephan Jenkins, and Carlton said that one of the reasons they remained friends was that "nothing took precedence over the music ... No matter what was going on in the emotional realm, all we cared about was the album. It created this kinetic environment that was kind of like Fleetwood Mac. It made for better music."

Heroes & Thieves was released and greeted with generally positive reviews. It debuted at number 44 on the U.S. Billboard 200, "Nolita Fairytale" was the first single and peaked at number 26 adult. As of December 2009, the album had sold 200,000 copies in the U.S. To promote the album, Carlton embarked on the Haunted Club Tour, from November 2 to November 24, 2007. Second single "Hands on Me" was sent out to radios in February 2008 and reached number nine. Carlton parted amicably with The Inc. once her promotional commitments to Heroes & Thieves had passed.

She contributed a stripped version of the song "More Than This" to Songs for Tibet, in support of Tibet to underline its human rights situation. On September 25, 2008, Carlton and several other musicians and scientists, departed on a nine-day trip to the Arctic Circle. On behalf of the charity Cape Farewell, they worked alongside researchers for the purpose of studying climate change. On June 19, 2010, Carlton came out as bisexual while headlining Nashville Pride. Carlton had also been a part for PETA's Animal Birth Control Campaign, she owns a long haired dachshund named Lord Victor.

2011: Rabbits on the Run

Carlton's fourth studio album, Rabbits on the Run was released on July 26, 2011 under Razor & Tie, the third record label she signed with. Before recording the album, Carlton was unsure whether she wanted to make another record or pursue film scoring instead. After deciding to try again, she decided that she needed to record in the ideal environment, choosing to record at Real World Studios Box, England. She chose the title for the symbolism often depicted by rabbits – 'time slipping, mind floating' – which is something she has been relating to for the past few years. The album was further inspired by Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time, and Richard Adams's Watership Down. The dreamy, fantastical sound of the album was achieved by recording direct to tape and features production by Steve Osborne. First single, "Carousel" was released on May 3. On September 19, a tweet in Carlton's account made by her management stated that "I Don't Want To Be A Bride" would be the next single off the record.

On November 10, a tweet made by Carlton's management announced the upcoming release of her holiday EP entitled Hear The Bells on November 21. The EP is consisted of four tracks, two of which are acoustic versions of Carlton's songs Hear The Bells and A Thousand Miles.

Charity work

In 2005, Carlton completed the New York City Marathon and donated the pledge money she collected to Musicians on Call, a nonprofit organization that brings live and recorded music to patients' bedsides.

Discography

Studio albums

• 2002: Be Not Nobody
• 2004: Harmonium
• 2007: Heroes & Thieves
• 2011: Rabbits on the Run

Compilation albums

• 2011: Icon: Best of Vanessa Carlton

EPs

• 2011: Hear The Bells

Awards

Nominations

• 2002 - Billboard Music Award for New Artist of the Year
• 2003 - American Music Award for Favorite Adult Contemporary Artist
• - Grammy Award for Record of the Year; "A Thousand Miles"
• 2003 - Grammy Award for Song of the Year; "A Thousand Miles"
• 2003 - Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s); "A Thousand Miles"

External links

• Official Website of Vanessa Carlton