Anna Christine Nalick (born March 30, 1984, in Glendora, California), is an American singer-songwriter. Her debut album, Wreck of the Day, featuring her first radio hit, "Breathe (2 AM)," was released on April 19, 2005.
Early years
She says in her Columbia Records biography that ever since she was a little girl she wanted to be a performer and that she actually began to write songs in fifth grade. Reportedly, while showing off her talents to her third grade teacher, her teacher told her that she'd end up "one day on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno." Leno recounted that story when Nalick actually did perform on his show earlier in 2006, quipping "which shows you how long I've been running this show". Nalick grew up in Glendora, California, east of Pasadena. As a teenager, she says she grew up in a household where her parents listened to a variety of music. Her mother exposed her to bands such as The Rolling Stones, Cream and Led Zeppelin, while her father introduced her to Elvis Presley and The Everly Brothers. Nalick began her songwriting career in the fifth grade. She officially cites her influences as Fiona Apple, Tori Amos, Blind Melon, John Mayer, and Stevie Ray Vaughan, among others.[1] She says of Vaughan that he is "the guy that I'm going to marry when I get to heaven."[1] In high school, in addition to writing her own songs, she performed with a Rush cover band. Nalick initially decided to go to college before pursuing her dream of music, but she met a photographer who convinced her to move forward more quickly. Nalick agreed to pass along a six song demo tape, and soon enough, was introduced to Christopher Thorn and Brad Smith, the founding members of Blind Melon now turned production team, as well as Eric Rosse, best known for his production work for Tori Amos. Putting her college plans on hold, in October, 2003 she signed on with Columbia Records. Nalick went into the studio with Thorn, Smith and Rosse as producers, together with mix-engineer Mark Endert (Fiona Apple, Maroon 5, and Gavin DeGraw). She recorded with a group of musicians that included Smith on bass, Thorn on guitar, Rosse and Zak Rae on keyboards, Lyle Workman and Stuart Mathis on guitar, Joey Waronker and Matt Chamberlain on drums. The result is her album Wreck of the Day, released two years later.
Early commercial success (2004–present)
Nalick's first single from her Wreck of the Day album was "Breathe (2 A.M.)", which peaked to #45 U.S. and went 3x Platinum on the Billboard Hot 100, and went huge on Adult Contemporary and Adult Top 40, both at #6. It was heavily played on AAA and Hot AC stations across the U.S., along with light airplay on Pop stations, and Nalick became one of 2005's biggest newcomers. Her video for the track got very heavy airplay on VH1 and some MTV airplay as well. In the fall of 2005, Nalick released "In The Rough". The single was moderately successful charting on the Billboard Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks at #15. Her album sales only slightly increased after the release of "In The Rough"; most say it was because the last single was almost a full year before and most had forgotten Nalick. However, Wreck of the Day, up to the time of this writing, has sold over 615,000 copies with a gold certification from the RIAA, and a #20 peak on the Billboard 200. In New Zealand, Wreck of The Day reached the Top 15 albums on the Top 40 Albums Chart. Her first single from Wreck of the Day, "Breathe (2AM)", experienced a resurgence on worldwide charts following a highly prominent appearance in a Grey's Anatomy episode (As We Know It), aired February 16, 2006. Other episodes of the show have featured the acoustic songs 'Catalyst' and 'Wreck of the Day' from the same album. The title track has also been featured on the show One Tree Hill. In a September 2006 Q magazine interview, Britney Spears said she wished she had written Nalick's "Breathe (2AM)". Two months later, Nalick took honors as "AC Female Artist of the Year" at the New Music Awards, beating out Sheryl Crow. According to her official website, Nalick was so convinced that Crow would win the award that she kicked back and relaxed, removing her shoes. When her name was called, she ran to the stage shoeless to make sure that she was able to have enough time for her acceptance speech. A clip from the single, "Satellite" from "Wreck of the Day" is often played on the Satellite Sisters radio show. In August 2007 it was reported by Radio & Records that Nalick will release her second album on December 31, 2007 currently under the title of Acceptance, influenced by the difficult time she has had to "personally overcome the sophomore slump". A track called "Shine" is currently being tested at promosquad.com.
Discography
Albums
Singles
References
External links
Glendora, California, United States
