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Vanessa Carlton: The User's Guide.

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Martin.:
Saw this on VH1's site.......

Read the names of collaborators on Heroes and Thieves, you're forgiven for thinking that Vanessa Carlton's keeping some strange bedfellows. The 26-year-old has managed to bring together names that no one else would ever think to -- she's just that talented and charming. Carlton wrote with pop-grrrl Linda Perry, former boyfriend and producer Stephan Jenkins (Third Eye Blind), record industry guru Rick Rubin and gold dust woman (and hero) Stevie Nicks. Now that she's on Irv Gotti's label The Inc., her first record in three years finds Carlton in front of the piano with a more mature worldview, but the same child-like whimsy as before. The first single captures this hybrid best in a love letter to her adopted New York neighborhood, "Nolita Fairytale." We sat down with the singer to find out who gives her palpitations, her new favorite movie and her first job, which was, naturally, shoveling manure.

Full name: Vanessa Lee Carlton. [My middle name is a family name and spelled that way] because my grandfather changed it. It was Lieberman, but he changed it to Lee.

Born: August 16, 1980.

First memory: I was having a tantrum in my crib. And I actually remember it. I remember the bars, and just thinking I was in jail. I just wanted to get out of my crib.

Biggest thrill as a child: We had this weeping willow tree with this swing, and I would always sing on the swing and hum, but I would turn it, to tighten the rope, and let go. I would do that for hours. I would just out there humming and twisting. I would make up songs and hum them.

What was your nickname as a kid? Ness. But then when I got to high school everyone called me V.

Did you sit at the back or front of the class? It depended on the class. I think I was in the middle. I had this psycho music teacher -- she was totally crazy, and I didn't like the songs she was teaching us -- so I would sit in the back. I had this excellent English teacher in high school, but she had this spitting issue. I would just wait for it to hit me -- so I started sitting in the back of the class for that one, [even] though I liked what she was saying.

First record bought: I had this Fisher-Price record player, little and plastic. I played the Chipmunks. And I hated the Chipmunks! I played a lot of Disney songs, which are pretty amazing, some of them.

First gig attended: The folk singer who sings "Alice's Restaurant" -- Arlo Guthrie. I was 7. They didn't force me, I liked it. I remember being really embarrassed because my mom was screaming something out. I was like, "What is she doing!?!"

Last book read: I read the last Harry Potter. I was in Cairo a couple of months ago, so I was just reading the guide, all about Islamic customs and how to operate there as a tourist.

Last movie seen: Superbad. I see two movies a year. I thought Superbad was brilliant. I loved it. As my brother said, it's the Dazed and Confused of the new generation. I read a review of it in The New Yorker, and they thought it was a brilliant film as well. They compared it to A Child's Garden of Verses, that Stevenon book that inspired Heroes and Thieves. I had this connection to it.

Favorite item of clothing: My riding boots that I found at a vintage store. I always ride in them. I wear them every day in the city, but I always ride in them. They're so broken in. They're imperfect in the most perfect way.

Have you ever been star struck? I guess with Stevie [Nicks] I was. I'm not big on celebrities, I think it's silly. But if you really are obsessed with someone's work and think they're amazing, you get a little palpitation. So with Stevie Nicks that happened.

Previous jobs: My first job was shoveling manure at a farm across the street from me. I was eight. I got paid in either Jolly Ranchers or pennies. I also used to be the teacher's helper -- my mom would teach piano at the house, but I really was not helpful. I would just steal lollipops. When I graduated I got a job at the Saloon for a year. I was fired, but I got re-hired. Then I tried to get a job at Isabella's on the Upper West Side. I was a very inconsistent waitress. Either I was really on, and you thought I was really great, or you're like, "That girl doesn't give a sh*t at all and she should not be working here."

If I could be any character from history or literature: Alice in Wonderland, but not the Disney version. When I was young I had this visual introduction to Alice, and it scared the crap out of me. I think it would be great to go on the acid trip that Alice was on. But I also identify with really sad characters, like [in] The Bell Jar. It's just so heartbreaking to read, especially when you can identify with the sadness. I would have loved to be observing The Great Gatsby -- just to be there. And I also would love to live in the shire in Lord of the Rings.

PianoPlayer12:
hehe great interview. Thanks for sharing :D

itsthefiveofus:
nice, I saw that to on VH1 on the leak section

joey:
I didnt know that about her middle name... very informative... thanks...!

MyMelody:
I wonder if that's the same grandfather who painted the boob picture? Haha.

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