Singer/songwriter Tracy Spuehler is often compared to Aimee Mann, but her music also has a lot in common with the '90s alt-rock sound of Tanya Donelly and Juliana Hatfield. The Los Angeles native first came on the scene playing violin in the Minneapolis-based band Pimentos for Gus. Moving back to L.A. after the band dissolved, Spuehler launched her solo career in 2001 with the album Six Three One. L.A. radio station KCRW put four songs from the album on its playlist, then the song "Where Do We Go?" got national exposure when it was used in a Nissan Altima television commercial. Her 2004 effort, It's the Sound, helped her earn a nomination for the 2005 L.A. Weekly Music Awards as Best Singer/Songwriter. Its title track was featured in two television shows -- Joan of Arcadia and Life as We Know It -- along with the film Mozart and the Whale. Another song from the album -- "Double Vision" -- landed on MTV's reality show Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County. ~ David Jeffries