Mieka Pauley

Mieka Pauley began as a solo artist in Boston. Her haunting voice and heartbreaking lyrics gained her more than a few fans, securing her bills with Citizen Cope, KT Tunstall, Natasha Bedingfield, Ben Kweller, Mason Jennings, John Legend, the Avett Brothers and many others. She won the first ever Starbucks Emerging Artist Award and the New York Songwriters Circle Songwriting Contest, and she was named Cosmopolitan Magazine's Fun Fearless Female Rockstar of the Year.

So, the music: Imagine Radiohead tiptoeing silently behind Patty Griffin as she makes her way backstage. Imagine Jeff Buckley in drag, singing along loudly at a Nirvana concert. Imagine Death Cab hiding in the back of an Emily Dickinson reading. She describes their music as "mainstream indie rock" and feels the contradiction perfectly describes her obsessions.