Imagine starting out as a singer-songwriter and the first song you put out commercially goes to the top five and you have a Grammy nomination for Best Song of the Year.
Such was the case for singer-songwriter Vanessa Carlton. She was signed to A&M records by the incredible age of 20 and her first single, A Thousand Miles, reached the top five on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2002. Her debut album, Be Not Nobody, followed and received a platinum certification in the United States. Be Not Nobody, with its hit single A Thousand miles, garned her a nomination by the Billboard Music Awards as Best New Artist and nominations for a Grammy Award as Record of the Year and Song of the Year.
But having a hit single isn't as smoothing sailing as you might think. In the podcast below on a phone call from her tour bus, Carlton talks about the difference between creating in her 20s for studio execs and creating in her 30s with a solid artistic vision. Over her favorite on-the-road, snack, we also discuss her creative process and influences, her new, fifth album, Liberman, and, of course, who she would invite to dinner.
Click this link to enjoy the most recent podcast of The Dinner Party with Elysabeth Alfano on WGN Radio's WGN Plus.
