Alison Sudol

If recent music press headlines are to be believed, and there is a frenzy building around singer/songwriter Alison Sudol, then she has her drama teacher to thank.

Having already taped a spot on "Last Call with Carson Daly" and been featured front and centre in a spread in Interview magazine, the 22-year-old Los Angeles-based singer is getting a big push into the spotlight this week with an appearance on the season premiere of "CSI: NY."

But none of this would have been happening if she didn't take part in her junior high play.

"I went to a really small school and got cast in the play," she explains after finishing sound check at Centennial Hall in London, Ont. "And I was really very, very shy. I wasn't a big speaker let alone singer, but my drama teacher kept pushing me to get louder and louder and then one day I opened my mouth and this big huge voice came out of me."

From that moment on she had the bug. "That sense of freedom and confidence in something I didn't think I could do was exhilarating."

Finishing high school early, Sudol immediately started singing in a band, but dumped them after the crave to make her own style of music grew too strong to ignore.

"I was being inspired by everything that wasn't around me," she says matter-of-factly. "The woods, the forest, the fairy-tale aspects of life," she trails off.

"I think a lot of people are influenced by their surroundings, but I was influenced by being in L.A. and wanting to go in the opposite direction."

So she taught herself how to write music and began to pen earthy, piano-based melodies that bridged her love for acts like Radiohead and Elton John.

"I didn't really start out feeling like I was a natural singer," she allows. "But I felt this great joy when I sang.

"That alone pushed me to want to do it. Even if people didn't say nice things, I would have done it anyway just because I loved it so much."

Then, a little over a year ago, a two-song demo Sudol had recorded snuck its way into the hands of Virgin Records' top brass.

"It was very cool," Sudol remarks. Christened A Fine Frenzy - a phrase taken from Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" - Sudol's sweetly orchestrated, "One Cell in the Sea," was recorded in and around Los Angeles last fall.

A simmering pastiche of pop balladry, whether pounding away on the Coldplay-esque "The Minnow & the Trout," turning sultry on "Ashes and Wine" or getting introspective on the gently sardonic "Almost Lover," Sudol's quivering voice offers a unique glance at love and loss.

"I can't write when I'm super emotional," she whispers. "I can't find the words, can't find the inspiration; everything's kind of a mess.

"But once all those parts and particles settle down, and I can see a situation for what it is, it all just comes out."

The album released last month, A Fine Frenzy got its first taste of life outside L.A.'s clustered music scene when Sudol was tapped to open for Rufus Wainwright during his summer tour.

He too no stranger to letting his music and lyrics slide into the ethereal, Sudol says that being on the road with the flamboyant singer was a real eye opener.

"He's a great performer," she enthuses. "It's interesting to watch how he interacts with his audience and see how fearless he is."

Still weeks away from her big unveiling on this week's "CSI: NY," Sudol says she forgets that there's even a buzz surrounding her music. "But then it's very odd," she says. "Sometimes, when I'm walking down the street, someone knows who I am and that's very strange. Very strange, but very nice at the same time."

For now, Sudol is in motion. Whether it's on her latest tour with Brandi Carlile, which stops in at Toronto's Phoenix Concert Theatre on Oct. 9, her excitement at listening to fans' stories of how they first listened to the record (so far a lady in Rhode Island tops the list), or dreaming up new ways to realize "One Cell's" songs in video form, Sudol is enjoying the ride.

"I love this," she says. "Sometimes, I have that feeling you get when you're at the top of a roller coaster and your stomach completely gives out. You know, when you go for the drop and you don't know what's going to happen? Some people get scared at that, but that to me is pretty great."

"One Cell in the Sea" is in stores now.