Australian Natalie Howard has been a rising star in her native land for some time, with many of the songs off her debut album, Yesterday's Makeup, on OzStar Music, making it into the Top 20 on Australia's country radio. Born and raised in Redcliffe, Queensland, Howard came to Nashville for the first time on a vacation with her mother and was enamored with the music scene there. Three months later she returned under a grant from Redcliffe's Regional Arts Development Fund, with the purpose of writing a song and recording a demo. What came from that was Yesterday's Makeup as well as winning numerous independent songwriter competitions around Australia. In 2005 Howard signed with the American label Go Grrrl Records, and her self-titled American debut was released in the U.S. in February 2006. ~ Marisa Brown