Artist Flashback: Michelle Branch

This month we are dedicated to bringing you the best in emerging new talent here on Buzznet. Some of your favorite bands were once considered to be “emerging artists” back in the day. It’s great to look back and reflect upon where you came from and how you got to the place you are today.

For the next three weeks we are going to take a trip down memory lane with some of your favorite artists to see what it was like for them when they were considered to be up-and-comers.

As Emerging Talent Month comes to an end this week, I thought it would be fitting to end this weekly segment with the one artist who pretty much started it all for me: Michelle Branch. Once I got my hands on her major label debut, The Spirit Room, back in the fall of 2001, it changed everything I knew and felt about music.

Let’s take a flashback into the career of the lovely Michelle Branch.

1998-2000

Beginnings and broken bracelets…

In 1998, Michelle self-produced Broken Bracelet, a compilation of songs she wrote when she was 14 and 15 which was later released on the independent record label Twin Dragon Records in June 2000

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Broken Bracelet‘s title was inspired from a bracelet made by pop singer Jewel, given to Branch by musician Steve Poltz at a Lisa Loeb concert she attended. Poltz told Branch that “when it breaks, you’ll be famous. Guess what? It broke!

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In 1999, Michelle posted two of her songs on the Rolling Stone website, which caught the attention of both pop/rock band Hanson and former Rolling Stone writer and Los Angeles record producer Jeff Rabhan, eventually leading to two gigs opening for Hanson in 2000.

2001-2003

Welcome to the spirit room…

In 2001, Branch signed a recording deal with Maverick Records where she began working with John Shanks to produce her first album and major-label debut.

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The Spirit Room was released in August 2001 producing the hit single “Everywhere.” The single was a commercial success, winning the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards Viewer’s Choice Award. “Everywhere” was later followed by singles “All You Wanted” and “Goodbye to You.”

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The Spirit Room was certified Double Platinum by the RIAA for selling over two million copies in the United States.

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In 2002, Branch teamed up with Santana to produce the song “The Game of Love,” which went on to win a Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals.

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She earned a Grammy nomination in 2003 for Best New Artist, but lost to Norah Jones.

2003-2005

Hotel paper, weddings and babies…

Michelle’s second album Hotel Paper was released in 2003, and debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 charts and matched the commercial success of her debut earning a Platinum certification by the RIAA for selling over a million copies.

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The lead single “Are You Happy Now?” was a chart success, earning her a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance but lost to P!nk’s “Trouble.”

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She appeared in the Rob Schneider film The Hot Chick.

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Branch married her bass player, Teddy Landau, in Mexico on May 23, 2004.

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She gave birth to her baby girl, Owen Isabelle, on August 3, 2005.

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In July 2005, Branch began collaborating with her backup singer and longtime friend Jessica Harp. They were initially known as “The Cass County Homewreckers” as a joke by Branch’s husband ut they trimmed it down to The Wreckers.

2006-2010

Leave the pieces when you go…

The Wreckers’ album, Stand Still, Look Pretty was released in May 2006.

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They contributed to Santana’s album All That I Am, with the song “I’m Feeling You,” appeared on an episode of One Tree Hill and joined country music stars Rascal Flatts on a U.S. tour.

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They were nominated for the 2006 CMA Awards Vocal Duo of the Year and for a Grammy Award for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocalfor the song “Leave the Pieces.”

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Stand Still, Look Pretty was certified Gold by the RIAA with sales of 851,000 copies as of March 2009.

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The Wreckers split in 2007.

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Branch continued to write songs for Mandy Moore’s album, Wild Hope, and wrote “Together” for the soundtrack of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2.

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In October 2007, she announced that she was working on a new solo album and later reported the title would be Everything Comes and Goes. It wasn’t until June 2009 that she released the first single, “Sooner Or Later.” How fitting, ha!

—-“Sooner or Later” was then followed by “This Way” in October 2009 but was not released as a single.

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Everything Comes and Goes was finally released as a six-track EP in July 2010.

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Branch later collaborated with R&B/hip-hop producer Timbaland on a pop/R&B song entitled “Getaway.”

2011- Present

Loud music and awaiting west coast time…

In May 2011, Branch announced the details of her third album, West Coast Time, on a live YouTube chat and premiered the first single, “Loud Music” to eager fans.

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As with her last album, Everything Comes and Goes, West Coast Time has seen numerous delays for, as of yet, unknown reasons. Michelle has confirmed on her Twitter that she knows as much as the fans do about this.

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In September 2012, Michelle Branch joined Chef Michael Mina as a co-host of Cook Taste Eat, an online cooking show that aims to teach viewers how to cook quality food at home.

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On December 25, 2012, Branch confirmed that West Coast Time was scheduled for release in the Spring of 2013.

Can’t wait to finally see the release of West Coast Time! It’s been over a decade since we last had some solo Branchie material in our hands!!

Catch up on all of our Artist Flashbacks

Paramore

Garbage

LIGHTS

What era was your favorite on the Michelle Branch timeline?

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