Jul 25, 2008

Singer growing up onstage

Caillat touring, keeping creative wheels spinning

By Paul Freeman / Entertainment Writer

Two years ago, Colbie Caillat was toiling at a Ventura County tanning salon. Things have been extraordinarily sunny for her since then.

The pop singer-songwriter released the delightful debut album "Coco," scored a hit single with "Bubbly," recorded a "Little Mermaid" tune for "DisneyMania 6," sung a duet on the new Jason Mraz album and is currently touring with John Mayer (playing Shoreline Amphitheatre on July 26).

Mayer has been helpful to the 22-year-old. "We've been e-mailing back and forth over the past eight months," Caillat said. "I'll have a question like, 'How do you get over your stage fright for a live TV performance?' He'll just say, 'Be yourself, have fun, take deep breaths and remember that the people out there aren't judging you.'

"He's so amazing. There are 20,000 people in the audience every night, screaming for him. The guy is so good onstage. He's a comedian. He's a great performer. His band is wonderful. It's so inspiring."

Caillat was raised amidst the inspirational wonders of Malibu. Her father Ken Caillat is a producer/engineer who worked with such stars as Frank Sinatra and Billy Idol, and band Fleetwood Mac.

She grew up hearing a wide range of styles, from '40s music, classic rock and reggae, to R&B and hip-hop. At age 14, Caillat expressed an interest in piano, so her parents began lessons. But, she didn't practice.

"When I turned 19, I took a guitar lesson and that's when I wrote my first song," Caillat said. "Piano is beautiful, but it doesn't inspire me to write songs."

Caillat found the sound and style of the guitar to better suit her. "I always remember saying, 'I want to be singer when I grow up.' Writing or playing an instrument were not goals for me," she said. "Once I got older, my parents taught me that, in order to have an established (singing) career, I needed to progress, learn how to play an instrument and become a songwriter."

By 11, Caillat was already performing. "I heard Lauryn Hill sing 'Killing Me Softly,' and loved it. So that year, for the sixth-grade talent show, I sang that with a couple of friends at school."

But for Caillat, stage fright was an issue. "When I was 8, we were in musicals - my mom, my sister and I - and I would never audition for the main part, because I was always too nervous. I've always had that fear," she said.

"I'm still working on it. It's been a year that I've been performing professionally now and it's gotten a lot easier."

Her parents are a little nervous about having a daughter in show biz. "When I was growing up, they were just trying to help me, paying for piano, guitar and vocal lessons, so I would have some knowledge. Once it actually started happening for me, they kind of freaked out - 'Now you're going to be on tour, we don't want you to get involved in anything bad,'" Caillat said with a laugh.

"My parents are so involved, it's great. They're good friends with my manager, producer and tour managers. It's like a big family."

MySpace played a big part in Caillat's rapid rise. She became her genre's No. 1 unsigned singer for four months.

"I put my songs up and it just happened," she said. "People would add my songs to their page, then their friends would hear it and add it and their friends and it just spread over a six-month period of time."

Now Caillat is riding the whirlwind. "This year has been a huge learning process for me. I do interviews from morning until afternoon, then I have a sound check, then play the show, then I have a meet and greet. So I wake up at like 6 or 7 a.m. and I go to bed after midnight," she said.

"I'm trying to learn how to find out who I am and be able to open up to people and, I guess, just grow up."

Caillat is trying to maintain a balance between work and personal life, but she admits, "That's the hard part."

"I've been home a month-and-a-half the past year. I miss my old lifestyle, being home everyday with my family and friends and my dogs and going to the beach," she said. "I'm trying to go home as much as I can, when I have time off."

Caillat looks forward to eventually touring less and focusing on songwriting. "When I'm blocked, everything builds up inside of me and a month later, songs will just pour out," she said. "It's like my own therapy session. It's like when you have a good, long cry."

Caillat's songs have touched the hearts of strangers. "I hear from fans, telling me how much my songs mean to them," she said. "My one song, 'Battle,' got this lady through her divorce. I wrote that song about whatever I was feeling and it somehow related to her - dealing with something completely different - and helped her. That's so rewarding."

Those rewards get Caillat through dues-paying times. "When days are hard, I complain, 'I want to go home,'" she said, but adds, "I have to remember I would be so bummed, if I woke up and this was all just a dream. This is an amazing experience that's happened to me, really unbelievable. It still hasn't fully hit me yet."