TAMAR KAPRELIAN HOMETOWN: Scottsdale, Ariz. INFLUENCES: Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty ALBUM: California EP, out now WEBSITE: facebook.com/TamarKaprelian Pop singer-songwriter Tamar Kaprelian, 25, moved around a lot as a kid—she was born in Scottsdale, Ariz., and raised in Georgia and California. After discovering Billy Joel and Paul McCartney in her father’s record collection at age 14, music became a constant in her life, and she... 

HALEY REINHART HOMETOWN: Wheeling, Ill. INFLUENCES: The Beatles, Nina Simone, Tony Bennett ALBUM: Listen Up!, out now WEBSITE: haleyreinhart.com American Idol alum Haley Reinhart—who finished third in season 10—recorded her debut album Listen Up! following the show’s international tour. “I wanted to wait till I could put all my focus and energy into the album and be very hands-on with every single aspect,” she says. “It was really important... 

LIFT EVERY VOICE How anyone—and we mean anyone—can learn to sing more sweetly Artists as stylistically and generationally diverse as Billie Holiday, Sam Cooke, Roger Daltrey and Lady Gaga have proven again and again that the right vocal performance can touch the listener’s deepest emotions—while the wrong one can abuse the eardrums of innocent bystanders. Learning to channel your own inner songbird can be a challenge, but there are steps... 

CRYSTAL BOWERSOX Farmer’s Daughter [19 Recordings/Jive] American Idol contestants are often accused of oversinging, pseudo-dramatics and the like—and on her high-spirited debut, former Idol runner-up Crystal Bowersox sometimes stands guilty of these musical crimes. Still, she explores her own path often enough on Farmer’s Daughter to stake a claim to a promising recording career. After a feisty opener, the top-down roadhouse rocker “Ridin’...