Kina started playing shows at the age of four in front of her stuffed animals. Now she plays in front of people, though it wasn’t the quickest transition for the admittedly shy songstress. While attending college at USC, Kina often retreated to the secluded stairwells around campus where she could write and sing without being heard. Protected by their quiet confines, she found a safe haven and a creative outlet for her music. Armed with a guitar and a cup of tea, Kina wrote in every stairwell she came across. And it was within these stairwells that she developed her confidence as a songwriter and her poise as a performer.

In 2007, Kina joined YouTube, made a music video and entered herself into a contest. A few months later, her video for “Message From Your Heart” aired during the Superbowl and its 97 million viewers (or 194 million eyeballs, depending on how you’re keeping track) and she walked away with a record deal. Since then, Kina has regularly posted her songs on YouTube, amassing many millions of views, and toured throughout North America. Her songs have been heard on television shows such as ABC’s General Hospital and MTV’s College Life.

Kina has self-released three EPs, and in February of 2010, Kina independently released her debut full-length album, Stairwells, which debuted on Billboard’s Top 200 and #5 on iTunes’ Pop Chart. Her music is both sweet and melancholy, but always filled with hope. She’d want you to know that she saves drowning honeybees from pools whenever she gets the chance.

Learn more at KinaGrannis.com.

Originally, Paul Dateh was only supposed to be a violinist. Beginning his violin studies at the age of four, it seemed that Dateh’s future in the classical industry was set in stone. But, on his first day at The University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music, Dateh suddenly dropped his major in Violin Performance and instead enrolled in the Jazz Studies Vocal program instead. The move shocked his colleagues as it was hard to understand why anyone would walk away from fourteen years of classical training to begin learning an entirely new musical discipline. But, Dateh knew that he wanted to be more than just a classical instrumentalist; his goal was to become a musician, in every possible way.

Since first appearing on the music scene three years ago, singer and violinist Paul Dateh has gone on to garner millions of views on the web as well as national exposure on television and in print. Dateh has since released two records: a self-titled record issued in January of 2009, and “The Good Life” – a collaborative EP with guitarist Ken Belcher. In 2010, Dateh scored his first short film (The LXD: Chapter 10 – I Seen a Man), which was distributed by Paramount Digital Entertainment.

Learn more about Paul at PaulDateh.com.

Elli Perry enjoys eating things, drinking things, cooking things, reading things, and primarily, making pleasing sounds with things. She has toured across the US and Canada, and has busked her way around Europe on street corners and in train stations. She has performed and written with some fairly famous folks, and has performed and written with some not so famous folks who are also pretty awesome.

Elli relocated to New Orleans in May of 2011 after spending a couple years as a half-hearted Brooklynite. She is in the early stages of pre-production for a new full length record, and will release a new single and music video entitled “Standing In Place” in June 2011. In the meantime, you should go buy her last record (The Secret to Scaling a Mountain) on iTunes so that she can earn a couple bones. Additionally, you should come to her shows, and say hi to her, because she will most likely say hi back.

Follow Elli on Facebook or MySpace.

Not long removed from Rio Mesa High School, The Grandmas boys are Mike Fitzgerald, who plays guitar and sings a little; his cousin Ian Fitzgerald, who plays drums and sings; and guitarist-singer Austin Knecht and bassist Jimbo Russell.

Interview with Mike Fitzgerald:

Why are you The Grandmas?

Ian and I are cousins, and our grandma lives in Camarillo, California. She lets us use her back room/pool house as a jam/rehearsal area. We brought our amps and drum set over, and that’s where we write and rehearse most of our songs. When we call each other up, it’s like, “OK, I’ll meet you at the grandma’s at 6 tonight,” so it’s a phrase that just stuck and made sense to us.

How long has all this been going on?

All of us have been friends forever — like 10 years plus. We went to Rio Mesa and were friends first before we ever thought about playing music and being in a band. Once we started learning instruments, we would just mess around. I don’t think we got serious about it until this past summer. So we wrote a bunch of songs, recorded the demo and started playing shows. I think our first show was in November at the Experi-mental Cafe.

Rock ‘n’ roll dream and reality: Are they the same thing or different things?

So much different. I think we have a long way to go; we’re just taking baby steps. Our biggest goal would be to do a tour or something.

And the band sounds like?

I knew you were going to ask that, and I still don’t have a great, poetic response. I think we play whatever we think sounds good. We don’t want to pigeonhole ourselves and just say we’re one genre or another. The new album we’re working on has got some country elements and some blues, rock and reggae.

Read the full interview at the Ventura County Star or learn more by visiting their MySpace page.

Sarah is a Berkeley-based singer/songwriter along the lines of Ingrid Michaelson and Sara Bareilles. She is a lover of inside jokes and In-N-Out milkshakes.

Sarah is currently a vocalist and keyboardist for the indie band Roosevelt Radio. The five-piece group formed out of Berkeley, California in early 2010, and they have since donned their suit jackets, megaphones, and vintage gear to turn heads and drop jaws at the top indie venues in the Bay Area and beyond. According to the San Jose Examiner:

“Already inviting comparison to acts like The Decemberists, Arcade Fire, and maybe a dash of Stars, Roosevelt Radio shows a knack for wonderfully punchy and melodic pop-rock gems that demand you sing / hum / tap / strum and/or shuffle along to their infectiously melodious guy(s)-supported-by-girl vocals.”

Hear her original music on her MySpace page or check out her work with Roosevelt Radio.

Michael Mazochi inherits the gigantic shoes of Bob Dylan, Townes Van Zandt, Johnny Cash, and Tom Waits, and walks – no, runs – for miles in them. Folk-rock is reinvented. He’s not quite like all the folks who influenced him, and for that he is a head above the rest. No label? No problem.

All this music is made in the style of washboarding laundry in a tin bucket; at home, with bare hands, knees to the floor.

Hear his music at CD Baby or at MySpace.

Sunday Radio, the electronic project conceived in late 2007 and headed by songwriter and instrumentalist Zong Gu, spans the boundaries between sub-pop, electro, ambient, and indie-rock. Sunday Radio uses layers of bright keys, fluid synths, airy guitars, and somber vocals to bring together a truly inspiring sound.

Pulling melodic inspiration from artists Ben Gibbard (Death Cab for Cutie) and Mike Kinsella (Owen, American Football) and instrumental influence from electronic collaborations Röyksopp and The Postal Service, Sunday Radio’s striking melodies, airy instrumentals, and ambient atmospheres create a unique and unforgettable sound.

Learn more about Sunday Radio on MySpace or Facebook.

Although popular music’s soundscape is constantly evolving, we can always count on at least two things: songs that provide the soundtracks to our lives as well as the unforgettable voices that power them.

With unrivaled substance and style to match, LA songstress Elle B delivers just that. Blessed with a voice reminiscent of music’s celebrated past of iconic soul singers, Elle B has been steadily winning audiences over one sonically moving performance at a time. Thanks to a variety of influences ranging from her classically trained vocalist mother to Lauryn Hill and Prince, Elle B has crafted her own unique sound on the 2009 Indie Soul/Pop release “The Elle B. EP”.

A refreshing blend of R&B, Soul and Pop, “The Elle B. EP” highlights both her tremendous vocal talent and memorable songwriting ability. It’s only a matter of time before the rest of the world will get to know the Indie Soul treasure embodied in LA’s very own sultry siren Elle B.

Hear Elle’s work at bandcamp and follow her work on Facebook.

Georgia was born in England in 1992, lived in Spain and now resides in the USA. She started singing age 6, and has worked with many children’s charities addressing issues such as autism, juvenile diabetes and water wells in Ethiopia.

Among her accomplishments, she has performed the National Anthem at Fenway Park, appeared in Blender magazine, been selected as the Austin Idol in 2009, and that same year had a day proclaimed hers by the Major of Austin. In 2009, she also won the ASPVA Youthcast competition and was runner up in the Fame National talent search hosted by 6 Flags and MGM. In August 2010, she was signed by the Trans Siberian Orchestra and joined their East tour for the 2010 Christmas season.

“People can be mean, and sometimes when you’re my age it’s easy to feel like you’re all alone. Going to school and growing up is hard for everyone at times, but we often don’t think about how it could be easier for all of us if we faced it as a team.”

At age 14, Hayley is working with PACER through their Teens Against Bullying project as a Peer Champion, joining teens that use their talents to make a difference for others. In this role she has teamed with the PACER National Center for Bullying Prevention in their efforts to raise awareness and inspire other young people to believe that “the end of bullying begins with me.”