Biography:

When Marianne Keith takes the stage she's never alone. She has Ernie, Elvis, maybe even Elliott with her.

"I name all of my guitars," says the 22-year-old Redlands singer-songwriter. "All of my instruments have 'E' names. I don't know why. The first one is named Ernie, and the second was Elliott. I named my piano Elton. I have a guitar named Elvis. My baby guitar that I love is Eloi--it means 'the chosen one.'"

Marianne and her boys make up the heart and soul of Beautiful Distraction, an engaging debut of introspective sentiments, pop sensibilities, Marianne's expressive emotions, and keen sense of melody. Lively songs such as "Kiss Me in the Rain," give way to the composed passion found on "That's Just the Way Love Goes." Sultry numbers like "The Angry Song" easily connect with the open emotions and raw musical talent found in the piano ballad, "Sideways Rain."

"I tend to write a lot of poppy songs, but I also balance them with quirkier, more unique songs," says Keith, who has the knack for adding a familiar pop element to her tunes--but not in a Britney Spears or Hilary Duff kind of way. "Some of my songs are kind of feel-good in a way, but they're not bubblegum. Being a singer-songwriter and also embracing pop is kind of a lost art."

Integrating pop, folk, country and more into her musical mix, Marianne crosses musical boundaries much like the diverse female musicians who inspire her: Sarah McLachlan, Tori Amos, and KT Tunstall. Keith's many fans have learned not to be fooled by her small frame and young age, her vocals command the room as if she were an old pro. After all, she has been preparing for this moment for years.

Keith has been singing in church from the age of six, and decided to play guitar and write her own music when she was 16. To get her hands on her first guitar she literally pawned her clarinet. "And I got completely ripped off," she laughs. "I got a guitar that wasn't that great. It was a classical guitar and I didn't know the difference between that and an acoustic guitar."

Although she still has the infamous guitar (that's Ernie), she got frustrated and didn't get around to seriously writing and performing her own music for another two years. But by the age of 18, Marianne was off and running. She started performing at open mic nights, like at the Coffee Depot in Riverside.

"That was the first time I attempted to play my guitar and sing. It was scary. I was trembling and I could barely play. I was only playing for about a year before I decided I was going to go ahead and try it," she says. "I was willing to be nervous because of how much I wanted to do it. If I was going to be a musician I just had to get over it."

Marianne has accomplished more than simply overcoming her nerves. Audiences throughout the Riverside, San Bernardino, Los Angeles and Orange County areas grew quickly. She was voted one of the top five artists in Orange County for Best Live Acoustic Female and won the Orange County Music Award in the Best Country category for the charming and up-tempo "Make You Mine." The award-winning song, along with "Kiss Me in the Rain," became fan favorites and top iTunes sellers.

More recently, Marianne started playing the piano, allowing her to expand her musical repertoire. The lush piano ballad "Sideways Rain," was recorded in one live take. "Any time there's a grand piano anywhere, I'm in heaven. I love playing it," she says. "Also, I really wanted to add something like that to the record so people knew I was legit."

One listen, one show and you'll know Keith is legit, even though she has also found herself sometimes defending her positive outlook on life. Raised in a middle-class family that has always supported her career goals, Keith's music focuses on the ups and downs of life, as opposed to the more melodramatic hardship within her genre.

"People think that in order to be some great songwriter, you have to have gone through some sort of tragedy. And I don't have a tragic life at all," she says. "But as I see more and more of the world, I think I have something to say and share about it. I think a lot of people have had lives similar to mine."

And if those emotions come out as a simple, ol' love song, so what?

"What do people care more about in life than relationships? People spend their whole lives looking for a good one," says Marianne. "I think love songs are important, as long as they're a relatively interesting take on love. I feel that's real music forever."

Happy or sad, sentimental or sweet, Marianne has plenty to say and with her sweet, stylish delivery, people are listening.

"I love Beautiful Distraction, and I'm focused on the records I'm making now, but I want to be remembered as someone who made an impact on the record industry," she says. "I'm also thinking about the music I'll be making 30 years from now."