Megan Slankard has got the edge of Alanis Morrisette, the rhythm of Ani DiFranco, the soul of Patty Griffin and the cute girl-next-door voice of Lisa Loeb. In her "sharp, punchy, original tunes", she weaves together her "passionate, gorgeous, and bluesy voice", "haunting lyrics", "wonderfully fluid, but also percussive six-string guitar style" and "the kind of melodies that shift records by the vanload". "Slankard's sound is vibrant, emotional, and very addicting." [See press page on her web site for credits.] Her self-produced solo-acoustic debut CD, Lady is a Pirate, which Harbinger magazine describes as "clever...intricate...imaginative...soulful..." was released July 2001. On the album, she delivers a "strong, consistent collection of 13 distinctive songs", a trio of which qualified her as a semi-finalist in the 2002 Independent Music Awards' performing-songwriter competition, sponsored by The Musician's Atlas Magazine and Borders Books & Music stores nationwide. "Listening to Slankard sing these lines [in 'Lady is a Pirate'] and playing clean acoustic guitar is like being resurrected from a soulless coma, like receiving CPR after drowning in a vast, monotonous sea of tired music. It's now rather impossible to listen to any other pop/folk singer without thinking that I'm wasting my time... With her sorrowful but uplifting voice she could make the OED sound melodious." Eddie Hemmings, Good Times, April 2003 The Tracy, California -based artist first picked up a guitar at age ten after receiving a Beatles songbook as a gift. Soon after, Slankard began writing and singing her own songs. At 15 she landed her first paying gig at a local bar and grill. While her peers were rebelling, testing their independence from their parents, Slankard was independently releasing two CDs. Be sure to check out her newly released CD, Freaky Little Story, also on CD Baby featuring the Megan Slankard Band.