Sierra Swan

Biographyby MacKenzie WilsonSinger/songwriter Sierra Swan can easily be compared to the smoldering vocal richness of Linda Perry, Pink, and Fiona Apple. As the daughter of guitarist Billy Swan, Swan and her sister Planet followed their father's footsteps and learned the trade of performing early on. Sierra played at various coffeehouses as a teenager and landed a residency at Goldfinger's in Hollywood at 18. In 1997, she and fellow Scotsman Graham Edwards (bass) formed the electronic pop act Dollshead. The duo released Frozen Charlotte in 1998 before being dropped by MCA. Swan's creative aspirations were still intact; she contributed vocals to Cold's 13 Ways to Bleed on Stage and Year of the Spider albums and collaborated with the Neptunes' Chad Hugo before signing a solo deal with Atlantic. While writing and recording material for her debut album, Sierra's mother took ill and passed away. It wasn't long before Swan once again found herself without a label. A chance meeting with songwriter Linda Perry got things back on track; throughout 2005 the two wrote and recorded material for Swan's first proper album, and Ladyland was released on Interscope in spring 2006. The album features guest vocals by Aimee Mann and additional production work by Bill Bottrell (Sheryl Crow, Elton John).