NEW YORK (Virgin Records) - The August 2, 2005 release of "t w e n t y t h r e e," the Virgin Records debut of San
Diego singer/songwriter Tristan Prettyman, heralds the arrival of an expressive new voice: emotionally vivid but unforced; natural but unforgettable; simple but undeniably complete. The genuine joy of the lead single, "Love, Love, Love," is a perfect summertime acoustic tonic - and audible evidence of the honest way this 23-year-old former competitive surfer and model came by her music, and this album.
"t w e n t y t h r e e" on Virgin is also EMI Music's first DualDisc release. Its DVD content is comprised of an enhanced stereo mix of the entire album, an on-screen biography and an exclusive 12-minute featurette in which Prettyman discusses life, music and surf. Starting on its release date, exclusive free bonus songs will be made available on i-Tunes, Yahoo! Music, Napster, and Rhapsody for those who purchase the complete album as a download. A different bonus song has been designated for each site.
The entire "t w e n t y t h r e e" album reflects Prettyman's pursuit of the unvarnished emotional truth over self-consciously calculated record-making - both in her songwriting, and in the sympathetic, life-sized production by Josh Deutsch, Virgin's Sr. Vice President of A&R (Jason Mraz, Lenny Kravitz). Guests include Mraz, co-writer and featured performer with Tristan on "Shy That Way"; G. Love; and guitarist Jesse Harris, co-writer of "Simple As It Should Be" and bassist Lee Alexander (Norah Jones, Amos Lee).
Prettyman was surrounded by the top 40 of the 1980s as a child, but credits Ani DiFranco's "Puddle Dive" album with transforming her relationship with music. The album set Tristan's baseline for complete honesty - as well as her sense of do-it-yourself empowerment. Amazingly, Prettyman was already writing her own songs on her father's guitar before she was even introduced to the titans of the craft, Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan, whom she adopted as her role models. Self-taught on guitar, her friends and acquaintances encouraged Prettyman to write and sing at gatherings, and the makers of an independent film, "Shelter," requested the use of one of Tristan's home-recorded songs, which in turn sparked calls for music and gigs.
Graduating from singing to her friends at their houses, Prettyman performed regularly at local clubs before she was old enough to be a patron, and now has tour dates with G. Love, Mraz, John Mellencamp, Howie Day and Gavin DeGraw behind her, with 100 shows in the past year alone. Well over 10,000 copies of her demo recording, "The Love EP," were sold at gigs and online at her www.tristanprettyman.com website. Each online copy included a personal thank-you note from Tristan, written on a Post-It, attesting to the relaxed sense of intimacy that surrounds Prettyman, her music and her fans.
This year, Prettyman will be seen in advertising by Volcom, Nixon watches and Taylor guitars, among others.
International set-up of the album is highlighted by early radio response in Japan, where Prettyman's single "Love, Love, Love" is a top 10 hit. Japan will release the album simultaneous with the US August 3. Holland will release "t w e n t y t h r e e" August 15 in support of her Lowlands Festival performance, with the rest of Europe to follow later in the year. Australia and New Zealand will release the album in September.
