Meiko: This Is Only The Beginning

by Sandra Rodriguez

I'm sure you're probably thinking: Who the heck is Meiko? She is a singer/songwriter from Roberta, Georgia. She moved to Los Angeles when she turned 18 to try and get her music career off the ground. She spent the first couple of years waitressing at an Indian food restaurant. Through her waitressing she was able to independently release a self-titled album. Shortly after, she was offered a waitressing job at The Hotel Café (a small venue for some of Hollywood's best). She spent another year or so waitressing there, watching other Hollywood musicians performing and being inspired by them. The owner began giving her opening slots and she slowly started gaining a following.

Things really started getting off the ground for her when Perez Hilton wrote this blog post about her. That caught the attention of agents and producers. In 2008 she sign a deal with MySpace Records and they rereleased her self-titled album. She also did a Hotel Café tour with the likes of Ingrid Michaelson, Sara Bareilles and a couple others. Since then, she has had the opportunity to tour with Eric Hutchinson, Joshua Radin and Jewel all over the country, the UK and even in Guam.

She is currently working with Styrofoam (a Belgian producer) to release her second album. She consistently plays shows in the LA area, very often at the Hotel Café. During her shows these past few years, she has been testing her new material on her audiences.

This past summer, I was lucky enough to attend one of her shows in downtown LA. It was absolutely amazing. Her voice sounded like it does on her album. She played brand new songs off her album and some new songs. One of my favorite things about her as a performer is that she tells the stories behind her songs. She seemed comfortable with her audience; she makes jokes and it all just makes her feel real and relatable.

She has a blog filled with random thoughts and images. This is part of the reason why I think she is so relatable, through her posts, the viewer is able to get to know the type of person that she is. It is a lot easier to build up her fan base this way because she is not famous enough where she doesn't have time to reply to any of her fans. Through facebook, Twitter and her blog, she has plenty of interactions with her fans, furthering their loyalty.

I'll leave you with one of my favorite songs by her (off her first album).