Vanessa Carlton

Biography: Vanessa Carlton was born August 16, 1980, and raised in Mitford, PA. She displayed her first hint of talent at age 2, when she banged out "It's A Small World" by ear on the piano. Her mother was her first music teacher, exposing her to a variety of classical composers, from Eric Satie to Mozart to Debussy. At 8, she wrote her first piece of music and continued writing songs for the piano. At age 9, Carlton became obsessed with ballet. She studied with some of the great dancers, including Gelsey Kirkland and Madame Nenette Charisse, and moved to New York City to study at the School of American Ballet in New York City at 14. Though she had originally set her sights on a career as a professional dancer, at 17 she became frustrated with dancing and began writing songs again--this time with lyrics. She had always loved to sing, and once she put her voice and piano together, something clicked. After graduating from dance school, she began waitressing and started playing gigs downtown. A year later she signed with Interscope, Geffen, A&M Records. Her debut album, Be Not Nobody, was released April 30, 2002 and her debut single "A Thousand Miles" is climbing the charts.… Expand