winter songs review

‘THE HOTEL CAFé PRESENTS WINTER SONGS’ (Epic)
This album of women singing for the holidays includes a handful of new songs, mostly forlorn rather than festive. Sara Bareilles and Ingrid Michaelson harmonize over piano and cellos on “Winter Song,” dubiously asking the question “Is love alive?” A cello returns as Brandi Carlile contemplates a holiday-season breakup on “The Heartache Can Wait,” while Lenka smiles through “All My Bells Are Ringing,” a deceptively perky girl-group-flavored song about loneliness. Colbie Caillat grows tearful seeing “Mistletoe,” while Meiko whisper-boasts about breaking hearts — “I’ve been a bad, a bad girl” — in “Maybe Next Year (X-Mas Song).” KT Tunstall and Alice Smith go cheerfully sultry on “Sleigh Ride” and “Silver Bells”; Fiona Apple gives “Frosty the Snowman” a nicely incongruous anxious quaver; and Priscilla Ahn breaks “Silent Night” into brief, pretty, almost abstract phrases of a cappella vocal harmony. JON PARELES

Priscilla Ahn Readies for Seoul

By Cathy Rose A. Garcia

Korean-American singer Priscilla Ahn is brushing up on her Korean before she heads over to Seoul for her first concert in December.

The pretty, 24-year-old Ahn promises to do something special for her Korean fans at her Dec. 4 concert at the Sangsang Madang Live Hall, Hongdae.

``It will be a very intimate show. I will play my guitar and harmonicas, and my friend Gus Seyffert will play bass. I'm hoping that it will be a successful show so that I can keep coming back to Korea to perform! I'll think of something special I can do for the show, but until then, I'm hoping to brush up on my Korean language before I go over," Ahn said in an email interview with The Korea Times.

Born Priscilla Natalie Hartranft in Fort Stewart, Georgia, Ahn later changed her name to reflect her Korean mother's last name. She believes her Korean heritage is very important.

``Even though my mom is very Americanized now, she still makes delicious Korean food all the time and she watches all the Korean soap operas. When I get sick, only her Korean soups and teas would make me feel better. I loved everything she made and did that was Korean. And I always loved going to Korea," she said.

Ahn has fond memories of visiting Korea as a child, playing with her cousins along the river. ``Even though I didn't know much Korean, and they didn't speak much English, we were still able to communicate, and they'd teach me games. The most impactful trip to Korea was when my grandfather was sick and in his deathbed. I'll never forget the hospitals we slept in, and all the events that led up to his death. … They buried him at the top of a mountain, overlooking miles of rice paddies. It's a beautiful place, and one I like to visit," she said

It was her mother who got Ahn to start singing when she was only seven years old. ``My mom sang a lot at home and at church, and she played the piano. She's very artistic. I watched and listened to her play, and soon took the piano up on my own and taught myself how to read music. She tried to teach me, but I was very impatient when getting lessons, and I wanted to learn it by myself. Years later I picked up the guitar and taught myself how to play that, and that's when I started to write songs," she said.

Ahn describes herself as a ``very sensitive" and ``emotional" person, so she started writing songs to express her emotions and thoughts. She cites Neil Young, Syd Barrett, Radiohead and Andrew Bird as her biggest musical influences.

Even though she had a passion for music, Ahn said until she was 18, she always believed she would be a schoolteacher. Upon the suggestion of a music professor, Ahn packed up her belongings and moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in music. She released an independently produced debut album, which caught the attention of Blue Note Records. She quickly signed a record deal and released a major label album, ``A Good Day," this year.

Ahn said releasing the album was ``like a dream come true." Her song ``Dream" was also featured in the film ``Disturbia" and the TV series ``Grey's Anatomy."

``I never actually thought that I'd ever put out a real record and I did. It's a record that I'm really proud of and one that I was able to make with my friends. I feel very lucky to have had this opportunity," she said.

Tickets to Ahn's concert cost 55,000 won. For English language reservations, call 3444-9969 or email 9ent@naver.com. Visit ticket.interpark.com or call 1544-1555 (Korean only).

Priscilla to perform in Korea

Rising Korean-American Singer Priscilla Ahn to Perform in Seoul
By Cathy Rose A. Garcia
Staff Reporter

Rising Korean-American singer Priscilla Ahn is causing a buzz in the U.S. music scene, thanks in large part to her song being featured on the hit show ``Grey's Anatomy." The song ``Dream" struck a chord with many fans when it was featured on the season four finale of the hit drama.

Korean fans are likewise taking notice of Ahn and her music, mainly because of her Korean heritage. Ahn was born Priscilla Natalie Hartranft in Fort Stewart, Georgia, but later changed her name to reflect her Korean mother's last name.

Ahn will perform in Seoul for the first time at the Sangsang Madang Live Hall in Hongdae, Dec. 4. Ahn, who has a beautiful, lilting voice, is often compared to Grammy Award-wining singer-songwriter Norah Jones

The 24-year old singer grew up in a small town in Pennsylvania. Influenced by her musically inclined mother, Ahn always loved singing and playing the guitar. After her high school graduation, she moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in music.

Ahn independently released a self-titled debut album in 2006. Her talent did not go unnoticed, and the prestigious Blue Note Records quickly signed her up. Blue Note Records is the same record label as Norah Jones.

Ahn released her first major label album ``A Good Day" earlier this year, receiving good reviews. One music critic described the album as an ``artful balance of youthful whimsy and grown-up sophistication," and praised Ahn's ``stunningly self-assured voice."

``Dream" was featured not only on Grey's Anatomy, but also included in the soundtrack for the hit thriller ``Disturbia." She also performed the song on ``The Tonight Show with Jay Leno."

Rising Hongdae singer Yozoh is the opening act for Ahn's concert. Tickets are 55,000 won. For English language reservations, call 3444-9969 or email 9ent@naver.com. Visit ticket.interpark.com or call 1544-1555 (Korean only).

Priscilla performing Are We Different

from Nashville

Youthful performer lands on classic label
By: Ron Wynn

Ambition and desire are two essential qualities for sustained success as a performer, while luck and timing are two other important attributes.

So far singer/songwriter Priscilla Ahn has demonstrated plenty of the former and enjoyed lots of the latter, as she’s currently one of the headline artists on the Hotel Café Tour, which comes to town tonight at the Exit/In.

She also has a solid new release A Good Day, which was issued in June by the famed Blue Note Records label. A single and video “Dream” are widely available online, and Ahn has been touring with labelmate Amos Lee.

“It’s such an amazing thing when people find out that you are on Blue Note Records,” Ahn said. “They have almost immediate respect for you as an artist because of that company’s long reputation. You still have to prove yourself once you get on stage, but the great thing is that so far they have been extremely supportive, asking for my input on everything, asking if there’s anything else they can do to help. They want to sell records, but they’re also interested in you as a person and a performer, and it’s a great feeling to be on that label.”

Though best known as one of the country’s premier jazz labels since its inception in 1939, over the past few years Blue Note has worked to expand its roster in other directions. It now includes multi-Grammy winner and big seller Norah Jones, critically acclaimed Lee, and soul legend Al Green among others.

Ahn fits in well with the company’s history of having skilled vocalist/instrumentalists on board. Ahn plays acoustic guitar and harmonica as well as piano, and has gotten raves for her prominent, melodically distinct voice, outstanding harmonica work and a live format that combines singing live while playing back her own recorded harmony lines.

Both “Dream,” with its lush arrangements and intimate lead, and other singles on the disc showcase a style rooted as much in folk and soft-rock as pop, though Ahn’s start in the music business was anything but conventional.

Ahn divided her childhood for years between Fort Stewart, Ga., and South Korea. After spending more than a decade in Pennsylvania, and getting her musical start playing coffee houses and open mikes in both the Reading and Philadelphia areas, Ahn decided to pack her bags and travel cross country to Los Angeles.

“I really had planned to go to college and study songwriting academically, but of all things it was a teacher who told me that I should start my career right away,” she said.

Indeed, it was a music professor who saw one of her live shows and was convinced she had the type of talent that needed to be developed in a concert setting rather than a classroom.

Following the move out west, Ahn came to a recording studio along with some friends to watch newly signed Blue Note performer Amos Lee cut his first EP. That led to Ahn getting an internship at the same studio, and subsequently a professional friendship with both Lee and his producer Barrie Maguire.

“Amos has been a champion on my behalf,” Ahn said. “He was the person who convinced me to keep on writing and singing back when it seemed like nothing was happening and he was also the person who really helped me at Blue Note, along with Barrie.”

Though she’s toured with Joshua Radin, Meiko, Brandi Carlile and the Cary Brothers, and is featured doing harmony vocals on Lee’s Supply and Demand disc, Ahn says she’s really enjoyed being on the Radio Café tour. The communal show that also includes Ingrid Michaelson, Meiko, Erin McCarley, Brooke Fraser and Katie Herzig has given Ahn a chance to hear and observe other singer/songwriters in action, something she says has been quite valuable, even though they don’t really talk shop that much.”

“You really learn a lot from seeing other people performing both in front of you and behind you,” Ahn said. “But we haven’t really done that much talking about music when we’re on the road. It’s more just talking about life in general, something that certainly helps in terms of your writing. But you do get a chance to see what works and what doesn’t with your own show each night. It’s been one of the greatest learning experiences I’ve had so far in my career.”

With recent appearances on National Public Radio and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, plus having songs featured in the film Disturbia and on the television shows Knight Rider and Grey’s Anatomy, Ahn has made it out of the underground and squarely into the mainstream of popular music.


What: The Hotel Café Tour featuring Priscilla Ahn, Ingrid Michaelson, Meiko, Erin McCarley, Brooke Fraser and Katie Herzig
When: 8 p.m. Tuesday
Where: The Exit/In, 2208 Elliston Place
Cost: $15
Info: 321-3340

From Paste Magazine

Hotel Café tour heading out across the United States By Evan Coulombe


Priscilla Ahn had a dream that one day her group of gal pals, The United Songstresses of Hotel Café, would rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “Girls need attention, and boys need us. So let’s make everybody glad.” (That's a verse from the Meiko anthem, “Reasons to Love You," for those of you keeping score at home.)
That day draws nigh, as Ahn, Meiko and their compatriots will seize full control of the fifth Hotel Café Tour and, recognizing that Cary and his brothers in song aren’t the only boys out there who need them, take the show across the land on a 32-date run. So this election season, forget about which female name does, or doesn’t appear on the presidential tickets and feast your eyes on a concert ticket that would put even a Hillary/Michelle Obama combo to shame:

Rachael Yamagata, Ingrid Michaelson, Kate Havnevik, Thao Nguyen, Brooke Fraser, Samantha Crain, Alice Russell, Jaymay, Erin McCarley, Katie Herzig, Jenny Owen Youngs, Lenka, Emily Wells, Anya Marina, Holly Conlan, Catherine Feeny, along with “a very special guest” will appear with Ahn and Meiko in varying configurations throughout the tour.

The website for the tour casually summarizes the venture as “one bus, one band and a bunch of friends on the road.” Be glad if they’re coming your way, this ridiculously talented bunch will give you plenty of reasons to love them.

Dates:

October
9 - Santa Barbara, Calif. @ SoHo Restaurant
10 - Los Angeles, Calif. @ Hotel Café
11 - Anaheim, Calif. @ House of Blues
13 - Solana Beach, Calif. @ Belly Up
14 - Phoenix, Ariz. @ Martini Ranch
16 - Dallas, Texas @ House of Blues
17 - Austin, Texas @ Parish
18 - Houston, Texas @ Meridian Red Room
20 - Birmingham, Ala. @ Workplay Theater
21 - Nashville, Tenn. @ Exit/In
22 - Atlanta, Ga. @ Variety Playhouse
23 - Gainesville, Fla. @ Common Grounds
25 - Orlando, Fla. @ Social
27 - Chapel Hill, N.C. @ Cat's Cradle
28 - Washington, D.C. @ 9:30 Club
29 - Philadelphia, Pa. @ World Cafe Live
30 - New York, N.Y. @ Bowery Ballroom
31 - Boston, Mass. @ Paradise Rock Club

November
1 - Brooklyn, N.Y. @ Music Hall of Williamburg
3 - Cincinnatti, Ohio @ Bogarts
5 - Chicago, Ill. @ Park West
6 - Minneapolis, Minn. @ The Varsity
7 - Madison, Wis. @ High Noon
8 - St. Louis, Mo. @ Blueberry Hill
9 - Lawrence, Kan. @ Liberty Hall
11 - Denver, Colo. @ Bluebird Theatre
12 - Salt Lake City, Utah @ Avalon Theatre
13 - Boise, Idaho @ Knitting Factory Concert House
14 - Portland, Ore. @ Doug Fir
15 - Seattle, Wash. @ Chop Suey
17 - San Francisco, Calif. @ Great American Music Hall
18 - Los Angeles, Calif. @ Henry Fonda Theatre

source

Winter Songs released on Oct 14

Holiday Album Will Feature Female Singer-Songwriters

Artists Include Sara Bareilles, Ingrid Michaelson, Brandi Carlile, KT Tunstall, and Katy Perry

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In the year of the female singer-songwriter, Epic Records and Hotel Café have partnered up to release Hotel Café Presents Winter Songs – a compilation of both original recordings as well as classic holiday tracks sung by a lineup of female singer-songwriters including many who have been associated with Hotel Café including Sara Bareilles, Ingrid Michaelson, Brandi Carlile and KT Tunstall. The star-studded album, which will be released on October 14 will also feature an exclusive medley of the traditional folk song, “Auld Lang Syne” from which all proceeds will benefit Susan G. Komen For The Cure.

On making Hotel Café Presents Winter Songs, singer Sara Bareilles had this to say, "I honestly never thought I would ever be on a Holiday album, but when the idea of the Hotel Cafe putting one together came about, I was really excited. I was honored to be a part of a compilation showcasing the incredible female talent at the Cafe, and Ingrid Michaelson and I wrote a song specifically for this project. I'm really looking forward to sharing it. The entire album will be incredibly beautiful."

Once just a small coffee shop, The Hotel Café has quickly blossomed into not only one of the premier singer/songwriter venues in the United States, but also been labeled “the place that breaks artists.” The artists surrounding The Hotel Café regard it as home. Instead of competition between musicians, many are there every night supporting one another or playing at each other’s side. On Hotel Café Presents Winter Songs, this is exactly what these artists set out to do – support each other to produce a project they all believe in.

Included on this unique album are five incredible original recordings starting off with a stunning recording of “Winter Song,” a gorgeous duet of which Sara Bareilles co-wrote and recorded with Ingrid Michaelson. Other originals include, “The Heartache Can Wait” which Brandi Carlile penned, “Misletoe” from Colbie Caillat, “All My Bells Are Ringing” from newcomer Lenka, and the sassy “Maybe Next Year (X-Mas Song,)” sung by Meiko.

Katy Perry adds her own rendition of the traditional, “White Christmas” while additional performances of the following holiday classics round out this extraordinary album; “Frosty The Snowman” sung by Fiona Apple, “I’ll Be Home For Christmas” performed by Holly Conlan, “Christmas Song” delicately performed by Catherine Feeny, “Silver Bells” by R&B soulstress Alice Smith, “Blue Christmas” by Nicole Atkins, “Winter Wonderland” performed by Kate Havnevik, “Silent Night” softly sung by Priscilla Ahn, and a lively rendition of “Sleigh Ride” by KT Tunstall.

The track listing is as follows:
1. Sara Bareilles and Ingrid Michaelson - "Winter Song"
2. Brandi Carlile - "The Heartache Can Wait"
3. Lenka - "All My Bells Are Ringing"
4. KT Tunstall - "Sleigh Ride"
5. Alice Smith - "Silver Bells"
6. Nicole Atkins - "Blue Christmas"
7. Fiona Apple - "Frosty The Snowman"
8. Meiko - "Maybe Next Year (X-Mas Song)"
9. Holly Conlan - "I'll Be Home For Christmas"
10. Katy Perry - "White Christmas"
11. Colbie Caillat - "Misletoe"
12. Priscilla Ahn - "Silent Night"
13. Kate Havnevik - "Winter Wonderland"
14. Catherine Feeny - "Christmas Song"
15.

Hotel Café Medley - Auld Lang Syne (Charity Medley)

I wanna go!

Priscilla will be part of the Hotel Cafe Tour She will be joined by Rachael Yamagata, Meiko, Brooke Fraser, Kate Havnevik, Ingrid Michaelson and more. Check out the above link for tour dates. Unfortunately Priscilla won't be at the show near me. But I did get to see her recently open for Amos Lee. And here are some crappy pictures even though I had second row seats.

Amos Lee and Priscilla singing Black River


Priscilla opening for Amos

Priscilla to record xmas & Sinatra song

Getting into the Christmas spirit early
Tom Harrison, The Province

It's probably hard to get the Christmas spirit in Los Angeles in December. Harder still to get into it in August.

This is the challenge Priscilla Ahn faces. She's due to record a Christmas song for a forthcoming CD and hasn't completely made up her mind about what she'll do. Likely, it'll be a version of "Silent Night," for which she's shaping in her mind a concept of how it should sound and be arranged.

"It's not an easy task to do a Christmas song," she allows and giggles quietly. Later, she's also contributing to a Frank Sinatra album. For this Ahn has decided on "I'll Never Smile Again," but unlike "Silent Night," for which she'll mould her voice to an idea, for the Sinatra song she'll just sing in her own style.

Her own style is an unaffected singer-writer, almost folk approach. Signed to Blue Note, Priscilla Ahn could be the label's next Norah Jones. The singers aren't remotely alike but if Jones sneaks up on you, so does Ahn. In that respect, they are alike.

Ahn isn't a lifelong fan of Sinatra. What she knows of old baggy eyes has come from going to her neighbourhood record store, Counterpoint, and buying vinyl long players that look cool for a dollar each.

"I buy a bunch of them," Ahn exclaims. "I love them so much and I listen to them all the time."

Now a Los Angeles resident, Ahn has done a little bit of moving about. Born in Georgia, as Priscilla Hartranft, she was raised in various Pennsylvania towns and lived for 10 years in South Korea, eventually taking Ahn as her last name as an acknowledgment of her Korean mother's maiden name. She toured and sang with Amos Lee and Brandi Carlisle before making the Joey Waronker-produced A Good Day album. It's a sparse-sounding record built around Ahn's acoustic guitar over which her light, easy voice floats. It's notable for its judicious details such as the singing saw, which sounds so much like a theramin, that appears on "Find My Way Back Home."

"There is a sort of interlude at the end of 'Astronaut' [another song from A Good Day] that gave me an idea," she explains. "I sang it like a theramin. We ended up not using it on 'Astronaut,' but the idea was there. When it came time to do 'Find My Way Back Home' I thought of theramin but Joey said, 'I know this musical saw player.' I thought that would be awesome. So it was his idea.

"When it was all done," Ahn continues, speaking of the finished album, "I sort of looked at it objectively. It was hard to see it, pragmatically. I'm really proud of it but I had a lot of trouble deciding what songs should be on the album. It's impossible to put them all on. And I'm really bad at making decisions, even simple ones, like, where to eat lunch."

Debut album hints at good things

By Andrew Gilbert for the Mercury News

For Priscilla Ahn, choosing a stage name raised complex questions of identity and ethnic solidarity.

A rising singer-songwriter based in Los Angeles, who just released a lovely debut album on Blue Note, "A Good Day," Ahn has gained considerable attention over the past year or so through network television appearances and the use of her music on "Grey's Anatomy."

She makes her Bay Area debut Saturday at the Independent, opening for bayou soul singer Marc Broussard; then on Sept. 4, she opens for Willie Nelson at the Mountain Winery in Saratoga. She returns to San Francisco Oct. 10 to open for 21-year-old British jazz singer Adele at the Regency Center's Grand Ballroom.

Ahn grew up with her father's daunting last name Hartranft (pronounced hart-raft), but as she started performing at open mikes around L.A., she eventually decided to adopt her Korean-born mother's maiden name.

"My real name is long and heard to spell," says Ahn, 24. "I didn't want to shorten Hartranft, and I didn't want to go by just Priscilla. For six months, I performed as I Am a Girl, but it was too vague and awkward to announce. I thought, maybe I can use my mom's maiden name. It's a lot prettier and simpler."

For her first extensive U.S. tour, Ahn is traveling with her acoustic guitar and ukulele, and performing with Gus Seyfrett on bass and guitar.

Along with San Francisco-based Chinese-American singer-songwriter Vienna Teng and Dengue Fever's Cambodian-born singer Chhom Nimol, Ahn has quickly emerged as one of the most visible Asian-American women in pop music.

"I wasn't sure if I wanted to put that out there so blatantly, so that before you listen to me you know I'm Asian," Ahn says. "But I thought it was sort of cool to embrace the Korean half of me, which I love."

Actually, there is another beautiful young woman of mixed Caucasian and Asian heritage who has attained a little bit of fame in recent years, Norah Jones. Rather than shy away from comparisons with Jones, Ahn quickly invokes the name when explaining why her exquisite CD ended up on Blue Note. "It's not just a jazz label," Ahn says. "They do folkier stuff like my music. I thought Blue Note had a lot of integrity, and so far it's been really good."

Ahn is no Jones clone, however. She's a folkie singer-songwriter with a sharp ear for British Invasion pop hooks. Ahn has soaked up music from her father's record collection, listening to Neil Young, the Beatles, Bob Dylan and Pink Floyd. Later, she fell under the sway of Radiohead, Sparklehorse and Juana Molina.

Raised since adolescence in a rural southeastern Pennsylvania town, Ahn headed to Los Angeles in 2003, not long after graduating from high school. She first gained attention outside of L.A. touring as a backup vocalist for singer-songwriters, particularly Josh Radin. Collaborating with film composer and drummer Joey Waronker, best known for his work with Beck and R.E.M., Ahn created a striking debut statement with "A Good Day."

Like that of many young songwriters, Ahn's music often focuses on the trials and tribulations of adolescence, with all the attendant feelings of awkwardness, dislocation and angst. Rather than turning to anger or aggression, Ahn looks for shelter, with lyrics that tend toward the dreamy and introspective.

She sets some of her most plaintive lyrics to her most winsome melodies, like her study in shyness "Wallflower." Those songs look back at a difficult small town upbringing. These days, she's loving life in the big city, and her new songs reflect her earlier sense of contentment.

"It did sort of surprise me when I realized what I had been writing about and why," Ahn says. "Now I'm in a place I finally feel like I've made a home I love. My ukulele song, 'Find My Way Home' is one of new pieces, and it's about having this good love that will bring me back home."

source

interview

New Priscilla interview: You recently started your first headlining tour. How is it going so far?

So far so good! I’m actually surprised at the turnout at the shows. I expected maybe 30 people to know me in each city, but around 100 – 200 people have been showing up, which is a really good feeling and a really nice surprise!

A Good Day has such a serene vibe, reminiscent of records that came out of Laurel Canyon in the '70s. How has living in California affected your songwriting?

Well, the reason I moved out to L.A. was because of its vibe. It’s a little mellower to me than living in New York City, and the weather is always pretty calm and nice. I've always sort of written mostly mellow songs. But I have done a lot of growing up since I’ve lived in L.A. and that definitely gives me a different point of view when I start writing a song. I have more confidence; I know what kind of music I really like, and how I like to sing it.

The album's first single, "Dream," seems quite an existential lyric for anyone to write, let alone someone so young. Was there anything in particular that inspired that song?

I think [that’s] just me recalling childhood memories, thinking of myself back then, and then growing up and how I can look back on my life some time from now, hopefully. I like to daydream about my past and my present and future.

What are a few of your favorite novels and/or books of poetry?

I love e.e. cummings. Jack Kerouac was a huge inspiration; one of my favorites of his is The Town and The City. And I love reading David Sedaris. He always makes me smile, while keeping it real, even touching. {More}

Dream video

Priscilla @ Bluegrass Folk Festival

We've added a third full day of intimate performances throughout the Festival in the Wildflower Pavilion - including Gregory Alan Isakov (2007 Telluride Troubadour winner), Priscilla Ahn, Madi Diaz, Dan Craig, and many others. The complete main stage and Wildflower workshop schedules are now available at bluegrass.com.

Takes place August 15-17.

Priscilla Ahn bio

Priscilla Ahn notes
Born: Georgia, raised in Reading and Bernville
(PA)

Age: 26

Graduated: Tulpehocken Junior-Senior High School, 2002

Residence: Laurel Canyon, Calif.

Parents: Harry and Kay Hartranft, Bernville

Achievements: Professional singer/songwriter; touring nationally this year, including appearances with Jakob Dylan, Taj Mahal, Emmylou Harris and Willie Nelson. Her debut CD, "A Good Day," was released June 10 on Blue Note Records

In her debut CD "A Good Day" on Blue Note Records (released last month) and in conversation, Priscilla Ahn has a sweet, pure voice and a friendly manner. But underneath is an iron will and a brave spirit that have driven her to take big risks. And for her, taking those risks has led to big rewards.

Ahn, now living near Los Angeles, grew up as Priscilla Hartranft in Bernville, the daughter of Harry and Kay Hartranft. She was born in Georgia while her father served is the U.S. Army, and moved to Reading as an infant, where she later attended Thirteenth and Union Elementary School. She graduated from Tulpehocken Area Junior-Senior High School in 2002.

In a telephone conversation recently, Ahn said her interest in music started early, and was encouraged by her mother, a teacher in the Penn Bernville Elemenatary School as well as a pianist and vocalist.

"I started singing very young," she said. "My mom helped me sing in church. I sang my first solo at 8."

Around the same time, she started learning piano from her mother, but "I didn't like being told what to do, so I picked it up mostly on my own."

When she was in fourth grade at Thirteenth and Union, Ahn started learning violin at school and played in the school orchestra. When the family moved to Bernville, however, the school district had no string program. Instead, she played xylophone and glockenspiel in the school band.

She also took private voice lessons and participated in the school chorus, as well as district and regional chorus.

Her father, a crane operator with a strong interest in classic folk/rock, urged her to pick up the guitar, but it wasn't until she heard one of her friends at school play the guitar that she became interested.

"All I had was a Christmas song book with guitar chords," she said. "So once I learned those, I started writing little tunes of my own to help me learn. I discovered that I really like that. I was always into reading, creative writing and poetry, so this became a new way for me to express myself."

Soon Ahn was writing songs, and performing at open mikes at Borders Book Store in Wyomissing. Her father helped her find gigs at local spots like the Brass Lantern in their old neighborhood, and at the Blue Marsh Canteen.

"I did a mix of my own stuff and covers, because people wanted to hear stuff they knew," she said. "So I did some Neil Young songs, and Jewel - whatever I was learning at the time." {read more}