Get To Know: The Music of Sierra Swan

Being the daughter of 60's country singer Billy Swan, Sierra Swan grew up in an environment which completely supported her early musical experiments.

"That kind of father that doesn't really flinch when you tell them you want to be a musician they think it's a great idea" Sierra told me when asked if having a famous father was a help or a hindrance in her life.

Throughout the 1990's Sierra stepped outside of her father's shadow and began working with a wide array of musical styles. In college she would collaborate with Will.I.Am and the guys that would become the Black Eyed Peas.

Then Sierra formed a band Dollshead and landed her first major label deal.

This began a decade long trend of getting signed, recording, touring and then the inevitable disappoint of being dropped by said major label deal.

This pattern would repeat itself a few times until the whole music industry would collapse after the advent of file-trading and social media.

Disillusioned but determined, Sierra would then befriend Courtney Love and began a long-term collaboration with hit-maker Linda Perry. Sierra Swan sounds completely re-invigorated on her new album Good Soldier which can be found at http://sierraswan.com. Produced by Billy Corgan and recorded here in Chicago, Sierra has a whole new bag of tricks at her disposal.

One song "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" started with the ironic song title.

"I'm not even a fan of sports so I don't know where it came from," Sierra told me "When you fall in love it's like a day out at the ballgame or a perfect afternoon." Corgan adds his signature crunchy guitar leads under Sierra's beautiful melody, making this one of the albums many stand out tracks.

The rest of Good Soldier experiments with rustic melancholia, european dance sounds, glam rock and even a little R&B. Sierra's gorgeous voice cuts through it all.

Check out my full interview with Sierra this Saturday April 5th at http://theandyderershow.com.

For more info on Sierra Swan: http://sierraswan.com