Ayaka

Ayaka is a J-pop artist specializing in acoustic music with bluesy elements -- both Sheryl Crow and Japanese pop stars Hirai Ken and Dream Come True are often named as influences. Born Ayaka Iida in Moriguchi, Osaka Prefecture, in 1987, she began her career by playing cover songs at school concerts, but soon decided to go professional, began to write her own material, and enrolled in the music school in Fukuoka, another graduate of which was the popular J-pop singer/songwriter Yui. Ayaka debuted in 2005, when, despite not yet having any releases, she was invited to do the them...