Tristan Prettyman

Tristan Prettyman, the 22-year-old Del Mar native, signed with Virgin in early October and will start recording next month. She won "Best Acoustic" at this year's San Diego Music Awards, and her song "My Love" was featured on the October 10 episode of the WB's new television show Jack and Bobby. A former model for the surfer apparel company Roxy, she quotes William Shatner on her blog and has been touring the country this last year, opening for Jason Mraz, G. Love, and John Mellencamp. A year ago she was playing to lackluster audiences at Twiggs and Lestat's.

Prettyman's self-produced CD, The Love EP, interested a few labels. I'd heard, however, that she turned down offers, even from Elektra Records, the company that signed Mraz.

Tracking Prettyman down isn't easy. I contacted her manager, Jason Brown.

"What was wrong with the offers?" I asked him.

Brown didn't want to comment. "She recently accepted a deal with Virgin, and rather than put other labels down, you could take a more positive spin," he said.