Originally published Sept. 1, 2007.
If you haven't heard of Colbie Caillat yet, you will soon enough as the young star's meteoric rise pushes her off MySpace and into the mainstream.
Caillat, 22, strutted on stage to open for The Goo Goo Dolls on Friday night at Smirnoff Amphitheater and is out touring in support of her first full-length release, Coco.
The opportunity to hit the road with seasoned veterans who draw a crowd is an auspicious one for any young musician, but considering where Caillat was only one year ago makes her story a bit more interesting -- and from watching her live, one might never guess she was new at this.
Last summer Caillat was wrapping up a cross-country road trip with her sister and had not yet even written the song that would become her first single.
When the sisters arrived home in southern California, Caillat put pen to paper and wrote the song "Bubbly." Caillat then recorded the song in her bathroom, which she said offered the best available acoustics.
With the help of a friend, the song was uploaded to the social networking site MySpace, and Caillat's musical career was essentially born.
Over the next few months, Caillat's songs spread like wildfire across MySpace as she became the most-played unsigned artist, quickly tallying up 10 million and eventually 20 million plays of her songs.
While acknowledging her new fan base, Caillat continued to write songs and publish them on MySpace while being courted by several record labels, including Universal Republic, with whom she eventually signed. In May she shot her first video, and in July her first album, Coco, was released.
A short time later, "Bubbly" was released as her first single.
Since then, Caillat has quickly become adept at touring and conducting interviews. She has appeared on NBC's "Late Night with Carson Daly" and "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," the latter she said which made her a bit nervous but was still an incredible experience.
Caillat lists the likes of Lauryn Hill, John Mayer and Jack Johnson among her inspirations and said she felt most complimented when compared to any of them. She also confirmed that while a rumored tour with Johnson is not finalized, it is a possibility.
Caillat's tour schedule seems to be continually expanding, however at this time no further dates are scheduled for North Texas.On The Web:
Colbie Caillat On MySpace
ColbieCaillat.com
