L.P.

"I want people to enjoy a song no matter what I look like," says L.P., who, at first glance, gives Cate Blanchett's Bob Dylan-in-drag a run for his/her money. After years behind the scenes penning hits for Rihanna and Christina Aguilera, L.P. has evolved into a performer in her own right with this month's release of Live From EastWest Studios. "I had all these songs and realized I could sing 'em better than anyone else," she says.

The L.A.-based musician's evolution into a frontperson has been as natural as it has been storied. Two years ago, as a last minute replacement for Taylor Dayne at promoter Jason Scoppa's popular covers night at Bardot, she brought the house down with her stormy take on Pat Benatar's "Shadows of the Night." She became a regular, developing stage chops to match her writing.

The live video for "Into the Wild," is the perfect L.P. primer: the diminutive singer strumming a ukelele, leading her band through heart-stopping vibrato choruses. "I grew up listening to big, epic rock," she explains. That, along with her opera-singing mother, goes a long way to explain the mix of classic rock and classical vocals that seem to come so naturally to her. "A song can change your entire world in three minutes," says L.P. "That's always what I'm trying to do."

L.P. wears a shirt by Tim Hamilton, jeans by Acne and a tie by Ann Demeulemeester. Jewelry by Alex Streeter and Barking Irons.

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