Born in Rome to an Italian father and a Finnish mother, Lara Martelli grew up immersed in the arts, studying both dance and voice at an early age and even receiving her first recording contract before she turned 16. In 1997 she participated in the Sanremo Festival in the recently created "Rock" section, taking first place in the emerging artist category with her song "Lara I" and spent the next few years building up her live presence in the Italian underground scene. In 2001 she released the single "Non È," which did well in her native country, and that same year Martelli went to Atlanta to record her debut full-length, Orchidea Porpora, in the famed Southern Track Studios. In 2006 the singer -- whose style more closely resembled those of English and American musicians than Italian -- set to work on recording Cerridwen, an album sung in English and released in the fall of the following year. ~ Marisa Brown