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A dramatic songwriter and performer similar to artists like Regina Spektor and Rufus Wainwright, Astrid Swan made ripples in the blogosphere when she emerged on the Minty Fresh label in the early 2000s. Born in Finland, Swan showed a good deal of musical talent at a young age; she began playing the piano at age six and started her first band, Fluff, when she was 15. Her interest in the English language bloomed early as well; Swan spent a year living in Ann Arbor, MI, when she was 17, where she played her first open-mic gigs. After singing backup vocals for the Finnish band Treeball for several years, Swan got to work on recording her own material with producer Nick Triani. Her delicate, piano-driven indie pop debut, Poverina, was released in the United States in 2007. ~ Margaret Reges