Cheyenne

In more ways than one, being grounded continues to be an important part of teenage singer-songwriter, Cheyenne Kimball's life.

When she was eight, she wrote her first song - entitled "All I Want Is You" - after being sent to her room for saying something mean to her older sister. "I remember writing it and hoping it would get me out of trouble," she recalls. "I haven't stopped writing songs or getting into trouble since."

Growing up in Frisco, Texas in a tight-knit family, Cheyenne's natural music ability was harnessed to her determined personality. When she was nine she entered herself into a talent night at a club without her parent's permission. "My mom and dad weren't happy, but in the end they figured it might be a good thing because if I got on stage and hated it, I would stop asking for permission to busk on street corners in town."

Much to her parent's surprise, Cheyenne blossomed under the spotlight. "I turned and looked at my husband and we both knew that she was born for this," says Cheyenne's mother and co-manager, Shannon. "Since then our biggest priority has been keeping her emotionally grounded and giving her the time she needs to mature as a person and an artist. She's grown up so fast, but I don't think it&..39;s ever fast enough when you're a teenager."

By the time Cheyenne was 12 she had developed into a musical prodigy, writing nearly 200 songs and performing anywhere her mother would drive her. The same year, in 2003, Cheyenne gained national attention when she won the title of "America's Most Talented Kid" on the NBC show. Later that year, Sony/Epic Records signed her to a multi-record deal.

For more than three years after signing with Epic Records, Cheyenne nurtured her passion for songwriting by traveling to different cities to work with and learn from some of rock's most successful songsmiths. "I feel like I just graduated from songwriting school so maybe this album is my diploma," Cheyenne says of her 12-song debut, The Day Has Come. "I hear a lot of people say that albums are like snapshots in time, but I think my album feels more like a movie because I see myself growing up in these songs."

Driven by distorted guitars and the shout-along refrain, "Nothing's gonna stop me anyway," Cheyenne says the first single, "Hanging On," became her anthem in the studio. "It's a song about following your dreams and never letting things stand in your way; basically what I've been doing all my life," she says. "The song was really important to me because it kept reminding me to be patient, which is something that I'm not very good at."

The album's mix of insistent rock, acoustic roots jangle and bluesy tones reveal Cheyenne's left-handed guitar prowess while her natural vocal delivery takes center stage on tender ballads such as "Four Walls." The poignant track is colored by Cheyenne's very real feelings of helplessness. "My dad almost died from a serious infection when I was away recording that song," she recalls. "The day I was flying home to see him in the hospital, I went into the studio and sang what's on the record. What you hear on that song is not a performance; the emotion is coming from a very real and honest place."