I like them before they become famous

Perhaps it's the influence of my company, as we only invest in startups before they are really companies, just a couple talented people with a good idea or two, but my taste in music lately has been all about finding the random artists that haven't made it big yet... and yet, in my opinion, are clearly on their way there.

The best way to find these people, besides of course a recommendation from someone I know with good musical taste or someone in the industry, is to go through the artists you already know. One of my favorite not-yet-totally-discovered artists is a young woman named Sara Bareilles. Calling her my favorite is sort of an understatement as there have been months where my iPod might as well have been "stuck" on her name. She has one album that I know inside out, some myspace and website mp3s and another album coming out in 2007 (and if i knew exactly when, i might be counting the days). Perhaps her background in a college a cappella makes her arrangements particularly interesting for me, but overall, the girl just rocks. Her website is one of my links on the sidebar.

So, I figure, if she likes and gives props to some other not-so-famous artists out there, chances are, it's worth giving them a listen. ALthough I only recently began browsing, i have found one more addition to my list of somewhat randoms: a guy named Ernie Halter. Perhaps people know him and I'm just a little late in the game, but from what he has online, his new album (also coming out in '07) should be pretty hot.

The "moral" of this blog post is that if you people out there know of good, young, upcoming artists that you'd like to recommend, preferably of the acoustic-guitar-y-folky-pop genre, I'm all ear(phone)s.