Rodriguez was raised in a musical family in Austin, Texas, the daughter of noted Texas"singer-songwriter David Rodriguez and a mother who was a classical and opera buff. She took up the violin at age five, studying with Austin teacher Bill Dick until she graduated high school, and playing in orchestras and chamber groups. She earned all region and all state honors as a violinist and concertmaster, eventually winning a scholarship to the prestigious"Oberlin Conservatory of Music. During her high school she also "got a taste" of traditional music fiddling appearing with her father and sitting in with such"people"as Don Walser at Austin clubs.

The emergence of violinist Carrie Luz Rodriguez as a wonderful singer and stunning instrumentalist caps an already long musical journey for a still young woman. Her impressive debut as an artist in her own right with Chip Taylor on Let's Leave This Town follows years of serious musical study of the classics as well jazz, country, folk and more as a violinist and fiddler. As an instrumentalist, Rodriguez has already recorded with Patty Griffin and appeared live with Lyle Lovett and on her own at a Dutch festival and other European shows. And now - much to her surprise, in fact - she also steps forward as an assured and charming vocalist.

Rodriguez was raised in a musical family in Austin, Texas, the daughter of noted Texas"singer-songwriter David Rodriguez and a mother who was a classical and opera buff. She took up the violin at age five, studying with Austin teacher Bill Dick until she graduated high school, and playing in orchestras and chamber groups. She earned all region and all state honors as a violinist and concertmaster, eventually winning a scholarship to the prestigious"Oberlin Conservatory of Music. During her high school she also "got a taste" of traditional music fiddling appearing with her father and sitting in with such"people"as Don Walser at Austin clubs.

Finding Oberlin's strict concentration on the classics too narrow for her adventurous musical vision, Rodriguez transferred"to"Berklee College of Music in Boston. She studied there with one of her violin heroes, Matt Glaser, head of Berklee's strings department, while also playing clubs with The Darlings and appearing as a special guest with Lovett at the Orpheum Theater. After graduating Magna Cum Laude from Berklee, Rodriguez recorded a track on Griffin's 1000 Kisses album and played with a country group back in Austin and traveled and played in Europe, developing out of her background her own style of playing that combines traditional styles of fiddleing with more contemporary influences.

In March 2001, Taylor heard Rodriguez play with alternative country artist Hayseed at South By Southwest in Austin and, knocked out by her fiddling, invited her to work with him. On a tour of Europe, he also persuaded

Rodriguez to sing, even though she hadn't thought of herself as a singer. "I don't know how he got me to do it," she recalls with a laugh. "I was a little reluctant." The enthusiastic crowd response to her singing convinced Taylor to collaborate with Rodriguez and record Let's Leave This Town.

"It opens a whole new dimension for me," says Rodriguez of her newfound talent as a singer. And with Let's Leave This Town, listeners are now introduced to an instrumental and vocal artist whose debut only whets the appetite for more.

Albums by Carrie Rodriguez:
The Trouble With Humans
Let's Leave This Town
Angel of the Morning

Listen:
To listen to sample tracks, click the album of choice above.

Artist's Links:
Chip Taylor talks about his teaming
CD review from the UK
Carrie's Tour Dates