Anna Christine Nalick (born March 30, 1984, in Glendora, California), is an American singer-songwriter. Her debut album, Wreck of the Day, featuring her first radio hit, "Breathe (2 AM)," was released on April 19, 2005. Nalick's second album is due for release on September 23, 2008 and features her current radio hit, Shine.
She says in her Columbia Records biography that ever since she was a little girl she wanted to be a performer and that she actually began to write songs in fifth grade. Reportedly, while showing off her talents to her third grade teacher, her teacher told her that she'd end up "one day on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno." Leno recounted that story when Nalick actually did perform on his show earlier in 2006, quipping "which shows you how long I've been running this show".
Nalick grew up in Glendora, California, east of Pasadena. As a teenager, she says she grew up in a household where her parents listened to a variety of music. Her mother exposed her to bands such as The Rolling Stones, Cream and Led Zeppelin, while her father introduced her to Elvis Presley and The Everly Brothers. Nalick began her songwriting career in the fifth grade. She officially cites her influences as Fiona Apple, Tori Amos, Blind Melon, John Mayer, and Stevie Ray Vaughan, among others. She says of Vaughan that he is "the guy that I'm going to marry when I get to heaven." In high school, in addition to writing her own songs, she performed with a Rush cover band called Brisket.