JASON REEVES HOMETOWN: Iowa City, Iowa INFLUENCES: Bob Dylan, Radiohead, Sufjan Stevens ALBUM: The Lovesick, due out this winter WEBSITE: jasonreeves.com Jason Reeves fell in love with music as a teenager, and eventually dropped out of college to head for California in 2005 and pursue a career as a singer and songwriter. “All songs exist in the atmosphere,” he says, “and artists are on a romantic search to pull them down and give them life.”... 

BRENDAN JAMES HOMETOWN: Derry, N.H. INFLUENCES: Simon and Garfunkel, James Taylor, Stevie Wonder ALBUM: Brendan James, out now WEBSITE: brendanjames.com After the release of his 2008 debut, The Day Is Brave, singer and pianist Brendan James toured relentlessly for 18 months. Along the way (by his count), he performed in 40 states, stayed in 210 hotels and ate at 330 restaurants. The goal was to build a fan base the old-fashioned way, one convert... 

ESPERANZA SPALDING HOMETOWN: Portland, Ore. INFLUENCES: Cannonball Adderley, Ron Carter, Dave Holland ALBUM: Chamber Music Society, out now WEBSITE: esperanzaspalding.com Jazz bass player and singer Esperanza Spalding has accumulated a lifetime’s worth of accomplishments at age 25, in part because she knew from a very early age what her destiny would be. She was only 4 when she saw classical cellist Yo-Yo Ma make a guest appearance on the kids’... 

WHO’S NEXT: CHRISTINA PERRI HOMETOWN: Philadelphia INFLUENCES: The Beatles, Beth Hart, Jason Mraz ALBUM: As yet untitled EP, due out soon WEBSITE: christinaperri.com Christina Perri began singing at a very early age, both in her school choir and for customers in her parents’ barber shop. By 15 she was so devoted to the music of the Beatles that she had the members’ names tattooed permanently on her wrist. Her older brother Nick Perri made... 

WHO’S NEXT: CHIEF HOMETOWN: Los Angeles MEMBERS: Evan Koga  (vocals, guitar) Danny Fujikawa (guitar) Mike Moonves (bass) Michael Fujikawa  (drums) ALBUM: Modern Rituals, due out Aug. 17 WEBSITE: chieftheband.com Frontman Evan Koga and his fellow L.A.-born members of Chief formed the band as students at New York University. They made the move back to California last year, guitarist Danny Fujikawa leaving school to do so. “I had faith in... 

WHO’S NEXT: RYAN STAR HOMETOWN: Dix Hills, N.Y. INFLUENCES: Leonard Cohen, Nine Inch Nails, Pearl Jam ALBUM: 11:59, out now WEBSITE: rstar.net Ryan Star inherited his big brother’s barely played guitar as a teenager, and was soon writing songs and making demos on a four-track recorder. By 14 he was selling recordings to classmates, and by his late teens he and some friends had formed a band called Stage. The group played local New York City... 

WHO’S NEXT: ELI ‘PAPERBOY’ REED HOMETOWN: Boston INFLUENCES: Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Otis Redding ALBUM: Come and Get It, due out Aug. 10 WEBSITE: elipaperboyreed.com EVERYTHING CHANGED FOR YOUNG ELI REED THE DAY that his father bought a Ray Charles box set, which the family listened to again and again over the course of a summer vacation. Reed was already a fan of vintage rock ’n’ roll and country music, but when he heard... 

WHO’S NEXT: NIKKI YANOFSKY HOMETOWN: Montreal, Quebec INFLUENCES: Ella Fitzgerald, Aretha Franklin, Billie Holiday ALBUM: Nikki, out now WEBSITE: nikkionline.ca THINGS HAVE MOVED QUICKLY FOR NIKKI YANOFSKY-AT 12 she was singing in front of 100,000 people at the Montreal International Jazz Festival, by 13 she had been nominated for a Juno award (Canada’s equivalent to the Grammys), and at 16 she’s just released her debut studio album,... 

WHO’S NEXT: SONS OF SYLVIA HOMETOWN: Rocky Mount, Va. MEMBERS: Adam Clark (mandolin, guitar, vocals) Ashley Clark (lead vocals, guitar, fiddle) Austin Clark (Dobro, lap steel, vocals) ALBUM: Revelation, out now WEBSITE: sonsofsylvia.com ADAM, ASHLEY AND AUSTIN CLARK are Three of 11 children born to traveling ministers Freddy and Sylvia Clark (hence the name of the group), who taught them to play instruments as kids. The three were all working... 

WHO’S NEXT: LAURA BELL BUNDY HOMETOWN: Lexington, Ky. INFLUENCES: Pearl Bailey, Patsy Cline, Willie Nelson ALBUM: Achin’ and Shakin’, out now WEBSITE: laurabellbundy.com FOR LAURA BELL BUNDY, THE ROAD TO NASHVILLE BEGAN in New York City. She had been performing country music for several years, but caught the attention of Music City as the Tony-nominated star of Broadway musicals like Legally Blonde, Hairspray and Wicked. She set aside... 

WHO’S NEXT: BERTELL HOMETOWN: Houston, Texas INFLUENCES: Marvin Gaye, Luther Vandross, Stevie Wonder ALBUM: Goin’ Hard, out June 22 WEBSITE: bertellonline.com R&B NEWCOMER BERTELL (BORN BERTELL YOUNG) got his start in his grade-school cafeteria, where he regularly took over the piano and sang to entertain his classmates. He attended college in new Jersey on a basketball scholarship, and through his team’s coach got to know music... 

WHO’S NEXT: TRUTH & SALVAGE CO. HOMETOWN: Los Angeles, Ca. MEMBERS: Joe Edel (bass), Adam Grace (keyboards), Tim Jones (vocals, guitar), Scott Kinnebrew (vocals, guitar), Bill “Smitty” Smith (vocals, drums), Walker Young (vocals, keyboards) ALBUM: Truth & Salvage Co., out May 25 WEBSITE: truthandsalvageco.com TRUTH & SALVAGE CO. FORMED IN 2005, GROWING OUT of late-night jam sessions at Hotel Café in Hollywood, where singer... 

WHO’S NEXT: KATE MILLER-HEIDKE Kate Miller-Heidke HOMETOWN: Brisbane, Queensland, Australia INFLUENCES: Joni Mitchell, Queen,  Regina Spektor ALBUM: Curiouser, out now WEBSITE: katemillerheidke.com ESTABLISHED AS A POP STAR IN HER NATIVE AUSTRALIA since 2007, singer and keyboardist Kate Miller-Heidke is poised to make a similar splash in the u.s. she recorded Curiouser over more than two months in Los Angeles, collaborating with guitarist... 

WHO’S NEXT: PAPER TONGUES Paper Tongues HOMETOWN: Charlotte, N.C. MEMBERS: Aswan North (vocals), Devin Forbes (guitar), Joey Signa (guitar), Cody Blackler (keyboards), Clayton Simon (keyboards), Danny Santell (bass), Jordan Hardee (drums) ALBUM: Self-titled debut out this summer; Ride to California digital EP out now WEBSITE: papertongues.com PAPER TONGUES’ MEMBERS GREW UP IN NORTH Carolina listening to rock, electronica... 

WHO’S NEXT: IMELDA MAY Imelda May HOMETOWN: Dublin, Ireland INFLUENCES: Billie Holiday, Luke Kelly, Gene Vincent ALBUM: Love Tattoo, out now WEBSITE: imeldamay.com MANY WHO TUNED IN DURING JEFF BECK’S TRIBUTE TO the late Les Paul on the Grammy Awards earlier this year found themselves wondering about the identity of the intriguing young woman singing “How High the Moon” alongside the guitar great. Those listeners were getting their fi... 

WHO’S NEXT: SALVADOR SANTANA Salvador Santana HOMETOWN: San Francisco, Calif. INFLUENCES: Bob Marley, Thelonious Monk, McCoy Tyner ALBUM: Keyboard City, out Feb. 2 WEBSITE: salvadorsantana.com THE SON OF GUITAR LEGEND CARLOS SANTANA AND grandson of blues pioneer Saunders King, Santana has music in his DNA. He began playing piano at age 6, and studied at San Francisco’s School of the Arts as well as Cal Arts in Valencia, Calif. He co-wrote... 

WHO’S NEXT: N’DAMBI N'DAMBI HOMETOWN: Dallas, Texas INFLUENCES: Betty Davis, Mahalia Jackson, Nina Simone ALBUM: Pink Elephant, out now WEBSITE: ndambionline.com N’DAMBI GREW UP IN A STRICT BAPTIST HOUSEHOLD where the only secular music allowed was country, but was drawn to classic soul from the moment she began discovering music on her own. She established herself in the music business working as a backup singer with fellow old-school... 

WHO’S NEXT: DANIEL MERRIWEATHER Daniel Merriweather HOMETOWN: Melbourne, Australia INFLUENCES: D’Angelo, Otis Redding, Stevie Wonder ALBUM: Love & War, out Feb. 23 WEBSITE: danielmerriweather.com DANIEL MERRIWEATHER WAS FIRST DRAWN TO MUSIC at age 4, when he discovered his mother’s violin. Soon he was playing Vivaldi and Bach concertos, but at 10 he was nudged toward R&B music by his discovery of Boyz II Men’s Cooleyhighharmony....