Michelle's Autobiography:

Ya know I really hate writing these things. I mean, what do you
say to make people listen to your music? I'm not a fan of
changing yourself for anything. With me, what you see is what you
get. That's why biographies irritate me so much. I'm supposed to
tell you all the amazing things I've accomplished, drop a few
names here and there, and sell myself as a product. I don't want
to do that now. So here it is. My un-glorified bio. "The love
story between my music and me."
For as long as I can remember, and from what my family recalls, I
was always singing.

When I asked my mom what music she listened to while she was
pregnant with me, she told me that she sang along with the radio
in the car to The Beatles a lot. Perhaps that's why The Beatles
are my favorite band, who knows. By the way, my dad still says
that my mom was the most beautiful pregnant woman he'd ever seen.
I was born seven weeks early on July 2nd, 1983. I only weighed 3
pounds 11 ounces. I guess I just couldn't wait to get out and see
the world. I haven't changed a bit.

The earliest documentation of my singing was when I was three
years old. My parents decided that we were going to make a tape
of me singing my most favorite songs and send it to my Grandma. I
sang with perfect pitch, although I didn't know most of the
words.

That didn't change. When I was four until I was about seven I
thought the words to "Ticket to Ride" from The Beatles was really
"She's got a chicken to ride." I was heartbroken when I found out
the real words. That was probably the point when I decided to
write my own songs. After all, I thought my words were better.

I would watch musicals constantly. My favorites were "Oklahoma"
and "The Sound Of Music." I would act like I was in the films,
singing the songs word for word, dressing up like the characters
and putting on plays with my sister for our family. Even though
my audience wasn't very large, I thrived on performing. I was
gonna be a Broadway star when I grew up.

I forgot how old I was when I witnessed a life-changing event.
No, I wasn't diagnosed with a deadly illness and I didn't get any
visions of the future, nothing fancy like that. I won tickets to
a New Kids On The Block Concert. I was so excited! After all, I
would sing and dance along to their tape everyday. (Just for your
info- that was probably the last time I've ever been seen
dancing.)

I know most of you are wondering why this was so "life changing"
but bare with me, and try not to barf. When I saw them live and
witnessed how the music touched people, I was in awe. Who cares
if I had to cover my ears the whole time so I wouldn't lose my
hearing! The next day, after the concert, it ended up that the
New Kids were staying at the same hotel as me. I squeezed through
the crowd of girl fans (I was small. It was a wonder I didn't get
killed!) I peered up to the balcony where I saw a huge man, their
bodyguard. Then one of the New Kids came out. The
hyperventilating started. One girl even tossed him a Jolly
Rancher candy and asked if he would sign it for her. I knew at
that moment that I no longer wanted to be singing show tunes. I
wanted to be a pop star.

My parents started noticing that my singing was becoming more
than just a hobby.

Other parents were telling my mother to put me into voice
lessons. I begged for her to look into it. Finally my mom and dad
enrolled me into private voice lessons at Northern Arizona
University. I was eight.

I went to a Catholic school, uniforms and all. Every Friday we
had to go to Mass. I think this had a big effect on me. Every
Friday I got to sing.

For the first 11 years of my life, I lived in Flagstaff, Arizona.
My family and I all got sick of the snow and cold weather, so we
moved to a small artsy town about an hour south. It was the best
change that could have happened to me. Sedona, most known for
it's natural beauty, was such an inspiring place for me to live.
Unfortunately, the University that I took my music lessons at was
in Flagstaff. It was time to find another option. It was perfect.
Just when I started looking, I found out that a vocal teacher
named Gina Bettum had just moved to Sedona from New York and was
taking on new students. I started taking lessons from her and it
was the best thing I've ever done. Gina has been in the music
industry so she was the perfect mentor. She also started teaching
me about singing from your heart with a lot of soul. All the
technique I learned prior was finally put to use. She helped me
find my own voice and it was as if I had finally taken my first
breath.

For my 14th birthday, I asked for a guitar, and amazingly I got
one! (Hey, what ever happened to that pony I asked for when I was
5!) My uncle happened to have his brothers' old guitars and he
decided to let me borrow one and figure out if I even liked
playing. A day later, I wrote my first song. I remember telling
my parents that I had written a song. They didn't really believe
me. After all, they didn't even know I could play guitar yet!
They knew my love for writing poetry and making up melodies, but
could I actually put the two together? The next few months I was
basically living in my room playing guitar and writing songs all
day long. I didn't want school to start up because I wouldn't be
able to work on my music. But it did start, and I slowly became
miserable.

But I guess out of every negative thing comes the positive,
because it was at school that I met my best friend and fellow
musician Jenifer Hagio. So at school Jen and I would hang out,
write songs and decide what kind of outfits we'd wear when we
finally make it to the Grammy Awards. I found myself taking
classes like chorus, music, theatre, and creative writing. Math
class was the time when I would write most of my songs (one
example is "Sweet Misery", I wrote it in Algebra 1.) The school
year went by fast, and soon it was summer vacation. Not only did
Jen and I survive our first year of high school, but also we were
now known to all our peers as the musicians of Red Rock High
School. Summer meant more time to work on music and also summer
festivals, fairs, art shows, and concerts to perform at. I was
coming up with new songs faster than I could write them down. I
started taking guitar lessons with my voice teachers' husband,
Gary. I quickly became well known around my small hometown and
was surprised to see the large response of fans from such wide
age ranges. Record people were seeing my shows, everybody I met
had "connections" for me to try out, and I was playing larger
venues. I knew this is what I was set out to do. I wanted to
share my music with the world and inspire people. However, things
quickly got frustrating. I learned never to expect a call back or
get your hopes up from the people who you send demos to, always
bring something to tie your hair back with for outdoor gigs, and
no matter how good you are-14 is just too young to play at 99.9%
of the venues in Arizona. People just wouldn't believe that I was
any good. I decided to just keep doing what I was doing. If
something was going to happen, it would. I wasn't going to try
and force it.

So summer ended and my second year of high school started up. The
music program at our school was going downhill and I had taken
every artistic class I could. I wasn't writing any songs. All I
wanted to do was stay home and play guitar. I had to answer
questions in class such as "What do you want to be when you grow
up?", "Preparing for college and your first job" etc. It was a
joke. I had a job of playing music. I knew what I wanted to do
when I "grew up" and I needed more time to focus on the things
that I was doing and my career. I left the high school to be
home-schooled. I was 15.

On January 2nd, 1999, I got a phone call from a family friend
telling me to get down to a nearby resort and to bring a demo
tape and a picture. She told me that she was giving a timeshare
tour to a guy in the music business from Los Angeles. My parents
weren't home so my little sister, Jen and I hopped into a golf
cart and high tailed it down to the hotel. It was there that I
met Jeff Rabhan. I gave him my demo and photo and we spoke for a
while.

A week went by . . . no phone call.
A month went by . . . no phone call.
Then two months.
I gave up.
It had happened to me before and I knew not to expect a call back
and . . .
*ring*
"Hello?"
"Hi. Is Michelle Branch there?"
"That would be me."
"Hi Michelle! This is Jeff Rabhan. Remember me?"

I went into the studio April of 2000 (with Jeff as my manager) to
start recording what would later be called "Broken Bracelet". It
was a full-length indie album that I would sell at shows and also
use as a demo.Given the budget and time we had, I finished this
mostly acoustic album in eight days with producer Rick Neigher.
June 1st was when the first pressing was ready to be released.
July 10th I got a call from Jeff. Apparently "Broken Bracelet"
had helped land me a couple opening slots on the "This Time
Around" tour with rock band Hanson. My first show with them was
at the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles. Danny Strick from Maverick
records was at that show. I guess he liked what he saw because he
followed me to Phoenix for the next show and it was then when he
told me of his plans to offer me a recording contract. December
6th I signed the deal. January 2001 I went into the studio with
producer John Shanks. By March I had finished my first major
label album "The Spirit Room". In May I left home to start
promoting my album, and well, I really haven't been home since.
My first single "Everywhere" reached #5 on the pop charts in the
U.S. It's video peaked at #3 on Total Request Live, MTV's music
video countdown. I've been on Conan O?Brien, Regis and Kelly, Jay
Leno, Rosie O' Donnell and many others.

Now it's January again.

My album was just certified Gold here in the United States as
well as Japan. In a few days I'll be leaving to Singapore. After
that I'll be going to Taiwan, Australia, all over the U.K. and
Europe as well as premiere the video for my next single ("All You
Wanted") on MTV's TRL and make another stop by the NBC studios to
perform on Jay Leno. That's all in January. February I'll be
headlining my own tour in the states. March means my first
headlining tour in Japan. Who knows what will happen after that?
All I know is that I am having more fun than I ever imagined.
Just a year and I've been "Everywhere".

Still after all the wonderful experiences I have had, the thing
that I love most is that people are inspired by my music. I've
received hundreds of e-mails with wonderful comments like "when
I'm having a bad day I listen to your songs and I feel better."
That to me is the best reward.

That's why this website was made.

You, the fans, have done so much for me. So, follow your dreams,
never give up, do what your heart tells you. There's no reason
why you can't do what you love for a living.

You never know. You might get that one phone call back.