Cover Girl

MANILA, Philippines - Yeah, the infamous and almost-ubiquitous Lady Gaga will be dropping by Manila in a couple weeks to hopefully cure us all of the incessant bouts of LSS we’ve caught from her hits “Just Dance” and “Poker Face,” but if platinum wigs and Galactica chic aren’t your deal, perhaps YouTube home-video stars are.

Marié Digby became one of YouTube’s most-clicked musicians after she posted her own acoustic version of what could be nominated as the Most Overplayed Song of 2007—Rihanna’s “Umbrella.” Her other homemade covers of anything from Maroon 5 to Linkin Park—abetted by her cute Japanese-Irish-American looks, no doubt—helped launch Digby into the capricious and mystifying world of Internet stardom.

Actually, that isn’t where her story started. It started when a Philosophy major at UC-Berkeley won a confusing hybrid of a competition known as the Pantene Pro-Voice in 2004. Wad of cash in hand, a professional producer in tow, a couple performances with A-List artists under her belt, and I’m guessing a lifetime supply of shampoo, the young Digby dropped out of college to pursue her dreams of singer-songwriter glory, although she’s been writing songs since that one day in highschool when she impulsively decided to buy a guitar. Her first album, Unfold, made it to the charts and got some decent airtime, even turning up on episodes of The Hills and Smallville.

Ironically enough, or perhaps not so ironic in these digitally-assisted times, her camcorder renditions of pop songs got her closer to her dreams than a record deal with Disney’s Hollwood Records. ‘Course, some say it was a truly excellent example of astroturfing. In any case, with over twelve million viewers singing “Um-buh-rella”—her way—and a sophomore album, Breathing Underwater, out to launch, Marié Digby’s got the Whole Wide World in her hands.

A review of Breathing Underwater:

From the opening beats of Breathing Underwater, the listener encounters a bold new Marié Digby. In marked contrast to the stripped-down vibe of her debut disc, Unfold, the album’s fuller sound enhances Marié’s (pronounced Mar-ee-AY) emotionally rich storytelling and dramatic vocals. The album is a deeply personal snapshot of her life—full of the kind of exposed emotions that make great songs.

“Everything was born right there in the moment,” says Digby.

Written, produced and recorded over a three and a half month period in a Los Angeles studio, alongside renowned producers Brian Kennedy (Jennifer Hudson, Jesse McCartney, Rihanna), Ezekiel “Zeke” Lewis for the Clutch and The Movement among others, Breathing Underwater marks Digby’s evolution from “the girl with the guitar” to a fully-emerged artist. Familiar themes continue to dominate her writing—love and all the conflicted emotions that come with it. But as much as Digby matured creatively during the making of Breathing Underwater, she grew even more personally.

“When I was making the album I was falling for someone—someone real and someone in front of me—and that was really scary,” she continues.

“There were days when I thought, this most wonderful thing I’ve ever felt. And there were days when I was tormented. That intensity came through in the songs.”

Marié Digby Live in manila, August 1, 2009 at the NBC Tent, Fort Bonifacio. Tickets are available at all Ticketnet outlets 911-555 or call

Fearless Productions 223-28906/706-1648