<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"   Photo: Laura Crosta  If you&amp;#039;ve ever watched How I Met Your Mother, Grey&amp;#039;s Anatomy, The O.C., or a handful of other primetime shows, you&amp;#039;ve probably heard Rachael Yamagata&amp;#039;s music. If you&amp;#039;ve ever listened to Jason Mraz, Rhett Miller, or Bright Eyes, you&amp;#039;ve probably heard her voice. But while Yamagata has no trouble finding fans (including puppets\u2014yes, that&amp;#039;s her performing &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;m Going To Go Back There Someday&amp;quot; on the newly released cover album Muppets: The Green Album), she&amp;#039;s not content with spreading her blues-rock music the traditional way. For Chesapeake, her third album, the singer-songwriter turned to PledgeMusic to raise money. No matter how she does it, we&amp;#039;re glad it happened: Her latest collection of soulful, sultry songs is one of her strongest yet. She&amp;#039;s taking it on the road for the next three months, making stops from Portland, Maine to Portland, Oregon. ELLE.com spoke with the multi-talented musician to find out why self-funding is the future of music and how she&amp;#039;s just like Gonzo. ELLE: It&amp;#039;s been three years since your last album, what have you been up to?Rachael Yamagata: Writing, recording, collaborating\u2014toured a bit on the record and then had a swell season opening slot as well. [There was a] 30 Rock appearance, a cameo in a new movie, Renee\u2014that sort of thing.  ELLE: What&amp;#039;s been the biggest evolution for you, as a musician, with Chesapeake?RY: There is a sense of freedom and spontaneity that comes through this album, I believe. Lyrically I think I tapped into my voice that sides on the optimistic for a few of the tracks, even though a situation may be complicated. ELLE: If Chesapeake could soundtrack a moment in the day, when would it be? RY: I&amp;#039;m a big fan of driving in my car while listening. I think it will appeal to those who&amp;#039;ve been through the washing machine of life, but come out refreshed and ready to take on the world and love again. ELLE: This album was funded by fans. Are alternative routes to releasing music a reality of making music in the 21st century?RY: I think it really is. Music is being discovered through so many different channels now and the ability to record and release is becoming almost instantaneous. It hasn&amp;#039;t changed my way of music making too much, though\u2014I still believe it comes down to the folks in the room playing the instruments. ELLE: You&amp;#039;re basically spending three months straight on the road\u2014is there anything you always do in preparation beforehand to handle it?RY: There are a million things I&amp;#039;d love to do, but the schedule has actually been insane since starting to plan the record. I&amp;#039;m wearing a lot more hats now that this record is coming out on my own label [Frankenfish Records], so every day starts early and ends late. If I manage to throw some clothes into a bag I&amp;#039;ll be lucky. But I&amp;#039;m so excited to get back out there. ELLE: Anything you can&amp;#039;t leave the house without?RY: Makeup remover cloths, definitely. Good loungewear for the long drives. And some tall heels. ELLE: Love your cover of &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;m Going To Go Back There Someday.&amp;quot; Which Muppet character are you most like?RY: I&amp;#039;ll pick Gonzo for this. He seems like a bit of a loner, perhaps...kind of sad and others don&amp;#039;t quite know what to make of him. I can relate to that. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.elle.com/culture/celebrities/news/a7648/rachael-yamagata-relates-to-gonzo-31726/?src=global_footer>