Mar 21, 2008

Budding artist says 'Hello'

Prettyman gets in touch with self, shares experiences

By Paul Freeman / Entertainment Writer

So you want a career in pop music? Good luck convincing your parents it's a practical notion.

Singer-songwriter Tristan Prettyman didn't have that problem. She was attending college when her folks came to one of her first gigs.

"They pulled me aside afterwards," Prettyman said. "My mom was like, 'Me and your Dad talked and we think that you should just go play music for a living. This seems to make you happy.' So, with their blessing, I decided to give it a try."

Sharing the stage with such stars as James Blunt, Chris Isaak and her former boyfriend, Jason Mraz, provided an education all its own.

"Being on tour with other musicians is good, because you get to see how other bands approach their music and the road. I get to see their routine, how they interact with their bands. I take a little bit of everything with me music-wise, and how they handle the spotlight."

Prettyman received acclaim for her debut album, "23," released in 2005, shortly before her 23rd birthday.

"When I did '23,' I didn't really like recording. I hated going over everything a hundred times, doing the vocals so many times, recording everything in bits and parts. I didn't really know what a producer was supposed to do. I felt confusion.

"That whole process was full of firsts. I had just gotten signed. I went to New York for the first time. Then touring and all the press. I was overwhelmed. All I could do was just take everything in and store it."

For her new CD, "Hello," which Virgin Records will release on April 15, Prettyman processed what she had learned. You can catch a preview of her enthralling new album when she plays Cafe Du Nord on Saturday.

"When it came time to make this new record, I was more stable as a person and confident as an artist," she said. "My goal was always to be able to make a record the way they did back in the day - everybody in a room, press record, have a jam-out and capture that. That's where records started. With this new album, I was lucky and got to do that. That's the recording process that works best for me. Now I love being the studio."

Prettyman appreciates singer-songwriters of the 1960s and '70s. "I don't understand how music went from being so pure - people playing what they felt - to Britney Spears and this whole pop machine. The old way seems like the right way to connect with people. It sounds vintage-y and warm. It's cool and gritty and more about feelings than about everything sounding perfect, glossy and shiny. That was definitely with me through the whole process of making 'Hello.'"

The album is a reflection of who Prettyman is at this point in her life. "In the last couple of years, I've gotten to know me," she said. "I've spent a lot of time at home, living on my own. Everyone needs to live on their own at one time or another in their lives to get to know themselves. I definitely did. And that came through in this record."

Major changes took place between the release of "23" and the recording of "Hello." "Three big things affected the writing: my first relationship, then my first breakup and then moving out on my own."

She wrote a batch of songs before those that appear on "Hello." "They were about breakups and I decided I didn't want to make a sad record and have to relive all that stuff. I just wanted to learn from it and move on," she said. "So I didn't record any of those songs. But that was very therapeutic. I needed to get all of that out before all the songs for 'Hello' could start to come.

"'Hello' is more about everything - romantic relationships, relationships with your friends, with your family, observing, being inspired by your environment. Every song kind of holds a special part of my personality within it."

The personable Prettyman grew up in Del Mar, north of San Diego. In her mid-teens, she became an avid surfer and a budding musician. "Both surfing and music were things I could do to get away from everything, get away from the stresses of being in high school. It's nice that I was able to turn one thing into a career and still have the other as a release, to get a clean slate and a fresh mind."

Eco-inclined Prettyman, who admires such artists as Bob Dylan and Ani DiFranco, is delighted that the Bonneville Environmental Foundation chose one of her fresh, new tracks, "War Outta Peace," for their DVD that demonstrates renewable energy's benefits. "It means a lot to me, to reach people and touch them in a positive manner with my music."

As for her musical career, Prettyman is taking it a day at a time. "I'm always making sure to check in with myself and be like, 'Are you still having fun? Are you still loving what you do?' The answer's always been yes."