At the helm of pop/rock act Dirtie Blonde is Amie Miriello. Growing up in Stamford, CT, Miriello always loved music; she got involved in musical theater at age six and was penning her own songs by the fourth grade. She grew up listening to classic rock like Jimi Hendrix, the Beatles, and Led Zeppelin before turning her attention to the world of singer/songwriters, particularly names like Jeff Buckley, Joni Mitchell, and Ani DiFranco. She hated school -- as it was seemingly unnecessary beside dreams of becoming famous -- and at 15, Miriello enrolled in a boarding school near Boston that was geared toward the arts. There, she sang all day and taught herself how to play guitar. She became friends one summer with guitarist Jay Dmuchowski, and the two developed a close bond jointly writing music. Miriello moved to New York at 17, but soon dropped out of the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in order to concentrate fully on her songwriting. Bartending nights when not playing clubs like Arlene's Grocery, Miriello also gigged around New York together with Dmuchowski. As luck would have it, a solo opening slot one night randomly impressed a scout for producer Billy Mann, who was actually present to see someone else. Dirtie Blonde -- at the time only consisting of Miriello and Dmuchowski -- was next introduced to the MachoPsycho production team (Pink, Jessica Simpson), and their debut album was recorded in less than two weeks. A deal was already in place with Jive Records before Dirtie Blonde finally completed their musical family, adding Los Angeles-based members guitarist Sean Kipe, bassist Dean Moore, and drummer Tim Perez to the group. Dirtie Blonde's self-titled debut appeared in May 2006. Subsequent touring through the spring occurred, including dates opening for Teddy Geiger and INXS. ~ Corey Apar