Orrico wise beyond her years

Stacie Orrico has sold over three million albums.

As could be expected, Stacie Orrico seems a lot older and wiser than an average 20-year-old.

The Seattle native has already seen more of the world than most will in their lives but is looking forward to a long career in music.

During a fleeting trip to Auckland to promote her new album, Beautiful Awakenings, Orrico served up a few compliments.

"It's beautiful and actually reminds me of my home in Seattle," she told NZPA.

"I've wanted to come here for a really long time, partly for the fascination of it. In America, Australia and New Zealand are thought to be two of the coolest countries in the world -- where all the cool people live -- and I've been very excited about coming here."

For those who like her style of soul-infused pop, those two countries are among the first to get a taste of her new work.

Fans in her home country will have to wait until early next year to get the album.

"A lot of artists put all the emphasis on releasing in America and don't really see the benefit of being able to release a record world-wide," Orrico said.

"I'm kind of the opposite. I've sold more records in Japan than I did in the States and I value and see the importance of giving the international markets enough time to do promo."

Her rise to stardom stemmed from a music seminar which she attended at the age of 12.

She was encouraged to enter a singing talent quest while there and was offered a recording deal as a result of her performance.

Orrico was swept into the music industry for the next five or six years, with her first album recorded at 14 and the second at 17.

At the age of 17 she had signed with both Virgin Records and a gospel label and committed to huge promotional schedules which gradually eroded her attachment to anything outside the industry.

"It was amazing and I had unbelievable opportunities ... but at the same time the last record was a difficult couple of years because I think I took too much on and had a hard time saying no to anything.

"The pressure definitely got a bit too heavy and that's when I kind of freaked myself out and realised I didn't really have any life identity outside this job, and that was not healthy."

Orrico said she ended up distancing herself from record label representatives, stopped writing and travelling and spent a year and a half reconnecting with family and friends.

The financial returns for selling over three million albums didn't stop her doing a stint as a restaurant waitress and she also spent time living with her sister on a university campus in Los Angeles.

Orrico said it was a revitalising time that gave her a taste of what she had missed through her own lack of schooling.

She also started reconnecting with her artistic side and was able to start writing again without the pressures that usually come with it.

"That's really why the title of the record is Beautiful Awakenings, it really was a freeing, liberating time for me."

She said the new album was a peaceful one.

"I wanted to make an album that you would want to put on while you're sitting in your bedroom after a long day. I wanted to have songs you could sing accompanied by just an acoustic guitar."

"Every song is a story about my life. I guess it's a sort of musical journal in a sense."

While her music has the full accompaniment of musical instruments on the album, promotional shows, including one in Auckland, have been acoustic sets.

Orrico said there were still pressures associated with touring and promoting Beautiful Awakenings, but her attitude towards it was different now.

"If I start to feel like I'm getting really tired or there's something at home I don't want to miss out on I feel the freedom now to say 'this is my job and I love it, but I also have a life at home that I want to cultivate'. I've got to have the freedom and schedule to do that."

With that approach in mind, Orrico said her immediate future would involve promotion in the US towards the end of the year, followed by tours in Asia and Europe.

She said she was on track to return to New Zealand and Australia in autumn for some shows with a full band.

Beyond that she hasn't ruled out another stint away from music and is pleased to have the freedom to be able to do so.

"That's my favourite part about starting so young. I could still work for another 15 years and I'll only be 35, so I feel like if there's other things I want to try or do, or if I want to shut the whole thing down and go and be a wife and a mum for a while I definitely have the freedom to do that.'

"I'm young and I'm single and I love what I do, so it's definitely going to be exciting."

- NZPA

* Beautiful Awakenings is out now.