(30 May 2009) Kate Earl says, "I have so many hours of dreaming logged in at my parents gas station in Chugiak, Alaska. Ring up a customer--dream, stock the shelves--dream, mop the floors--dream, plow the snow--dream. Now aged 28, Earl spent her whole life in this remote town asking the question, "what am I gonna do with myself if I stay here?" So as soon as she had saved enough for a ticket and a guitar, she moved to Los Angeles. Her three song sampler Introducing Kate Earl (Universal Republic (USA), 2009) features tracks currently streaming on her MySpace page.

"My Dutch/Welsh father dropped out of sixth grade to survive the Great Depression by picking cotton for bowls of beans until he lied about his age to serve during the Korean War to support his parents, Earl Says. "He was a self made man. He built our gas station with his own hands and he taught me to follow my bliss." Those wondering about her incredible features should note, "My Filipino mother left her parents to board in another town and thenwalked miles in the rain with a banana leaf for an umbrella to go to school, having sewed her own uniform and cooked her meals on a little fire as a child, beleived in the American dream and made a new life in Alaska with greater possibilities for her children." Kate continues, "She taught me that wit, intuition, resolve and improvisation can go a long way. The rest is left to fate or luck or the combustion of our individual spark."

About her quest, Kate says, "With common sense, hard work and manual labor, my upbringing at the gas station, pursuing music was a luxury, it was not hard for me to save a lump of change and go to the city." She did the Hollywood thing hitting the streets with the demo made at a friends house. The demo included the only songs she had written." She continues, "I had played piano and sang in church since I was yay high but I was going by the seat of my pants, figuring out my sound as I wrote." And now signed to Universal Republic with an album on the way, she been developing her sound under the guidance of Tommy Mottola." She concludes, "I'm in good hands, after all he is the architect of dreams.

The sampler opens with the stunning track "Melody." Rich studio arrangements present Kate with a sound not unlike Lily Allen and Kate Nash. Her sweet vocals glide over string-based arrangements glistening with chimes. The EP develops. "All I Want" is subtly arranged and is contrasted with the other tracks by its crisp percussion and lush harmony layers. The sampler clearly builds with this wonderful pop track with a lovely hook. The stunning concluding track "Everlasting" combines the best features of the other two and left us longing for more. This is a promising sampler. We can't wait to hear her album.