Circumventing conventional standards may be the way to get things done nowadays. It worked for rising star Christina Perri, a singer, songwriter who used the Internet to launch her musical career.
Opportunity knocked back in February when Perri received a Facebook message from Bill Silva Management, who also represents Jason Mraz, after seeing Perri performing on YouTube. Talk about serendipity! The stars were aligning for the native Philadelphia singing hopeful.
Since then, Perri, who was waitressing in a LA cafe, has been busy dealing with the media, answering fans on Twitter and Facebook, but most importantly, she has been performing. The 23-year-old landed a spot on CBS’ The Early Show introducing her song, “Jar of Hearts.” See her national TV debut here.
Fate stepped in when a close friend took her demo to choreographer Stacey Tokey, with FOX TV’s So You Think You Can Dance. Her song was featured on the June 30 show, the very next day Perri was trending on Google. And, not just trending, the top trend.
“Jar of Hearts” has sold 100,000 downloads, exploded on Billboard’s Hot Digital Songs chart at No. 28, Billboard’s single’s chart at No. 25, and climbed to No. 13 on iTunes. Perri will be performing this Thursday on the show that helped to get her started, So You Think You Can Dance.
Perhaps you can say that Perri was destined for fame. Her brother, Nick Perri, was a guitarist for the alternative-rock group Shinedown. He moved to LA at 16 when he was offered a record deal. Perri traveled with the band as an assistant seeing first hand what life on the road was all about. She has no illusions about fame.
Perri taught herself how to play guitar at 15, and has plenty of life experiences penned in her songs. Presently, the 23-year-old is working on her debut four-song EP. The release date is expected sometime in late summer.
The singer still remains unsigned, however, that probably won’t be the case for long. She has been courted by a few major record labels. “The biggest lesson I’ve learned is not giving up,” the songstress notes, “I kept going.”
Together with manager Tom Gates, the up-and-coming musical artist has work to do. Laying down tracks of her songs will soon be underway as Perri will find herself in a real recording studio fulfilling her lifetime dream.
Getting the music out there is her main focus right now. She definitely has a listening audience. For the meantime, Perri is excited about everything that’s happened.
She’s got the songs. She captured the fans. It’s Christina Perri’s day in the sun.
Listen to Christina Perri here.
View her CBS backstage interview here.
To download “Jar of Hearts” or to join her on Facebook or Twitter, go to her website here.
Sources
billboard.com, christinaperri.com, YouTube.com, behindblondiepark.com, cbsnews.com, usatoday.com
