Free Times Cover Girl Haley Dreis Hits The Road

New York (Top40 Charts/ Haley Dreis Official Website) - To be an artist is to propel the culture; to meld the classic with the contemporary and to create something new. Just like multi-talented singer/songwriter Haley Dreis does with her debut indie release, 'Beautiful to Me.' Currently a student at the University of South Carolina, where she is studying music and journalism, Dreis has already been making waves through the New York City scene. The teen talent next takes the excitement nationwide with the release of 'Beautiful to Me' on CDBaby.

Oct 1, 7 p.m. USC @ Preston College Lobby - Free show Columbia, SC
Oct 15, 7 p.m. White Mule - CD Release Party Columbia, SC
Oct 17, 4 p.m. Lake Carolina - Wine & Food Festival Columbia, SC
Oct 20, 9:30 p.m. USC - Acoustic Cafe' & Russell House Starbucks Columbia, SC
Oct 22, 6 p.m. Lake Carolina - Pumpkin Patch Festival Columbia, SC
Oct 23, 8 p.m. O-CHA Tea Bar Greenville, SC
Oct 29, 6 p.m. Lake Carolina - Pumpkin Patch Festival Columbia, SC
Oct 30, 7 p.m. Nosh Durham, NC
Nov 2, 8 p.m. New Moon Festival Columbia, SC

The artist may be new to the pop world, where she accompanies her gentle and versatile vocals fluently on violin, piano, and guitar, but she's known the stage since she began studying violin at the tender age of six. "I've been immersed in the classical music realm, which is a very different feel. I think it's more cutthroat, fierce, competitive," Dreis recently told the Greencastle Banner-Graphic. "But at the same time, you get a lot of background in theory and history�.I'm comfortable with melody. Playing the violin has helped me with melody lines."

In high school, she continued her musical studies at the North Carolina School of the Arts. Using her classical training as a base, and inspired by her reporting duties for USC's Daily Gamecock, which has given her the chance to interview artists like Gavin DeGraw and Katy Perry, she taught herself how to play guitar barely a year ago over a break in her studies.

Favoring substance and creativity, Haley is drawn to compelling melodies and thoughtful lyrics which she has intelligently crafted into songs which speak universally. She is inspired by introspective content that spans far beyond love - politics, spirituality, the arts, optimism and self-worth. Without losing touch of her grounding in the music of Mozart and Bach, her new CD blends in the raw power of indie artists like Damien Rice and Iron & Wine, the folk flavor of Sara McLachlan and Jewel, the soulful elements of Sara Bareilles and John Mayer, and the pop accessibility of Jason Mraz and Michelle Branch.

As Dreis notes, at its essence, all music is related. Immersing oneself in one genre doesn't mean that all genres are off limits. "I'm not really crossing over because I think that music is just the base and it extends into different genres and whatever your interests are. Just because I do pop music doesn't mean I'm not going to do classical ever again."