Kate Voegele crafts soulful, catchy pop rock with an honest core. On her MySpace Records debut Don't Look Away, the 21-year-old songstress croons on personal themes way beyond her years. Her warm vocal melodies soar backed by clean guitars and ethereal keys, during tracks like "Chicago" and "Only Fooling Myself." The hooks are fun, smart and ultimately undeniable. The sultry singer definitely knows how to handle a crowd too, as she's already served as an opener for both John Mayer and Dave Matthews Band.

She also stands on the cutting edge of the industry, amidst changing tides. As the first signing to MySpace Records, she's utilized the web site to her full advantage by constantly updating her page and video blogging for fans. The blogs follow Kate backstage and in the studio, allowing the audience a close connection. In addition to rocking' across the country with Cary Brothers and Ben Lee, Kate's also snagged a spot on the upcoming season of the hit show One Tree Hill. On the show, she plays a musician named Mia that's almost as captivating as she is. In between acting, touring and recording, Kate found time to sit down with ARTISTdirect to discuss her music and much more.

Would you say Don't Look Away is an especially personal record?
It's definitely a very personal record. It's kind of an amalgamation of everything that's been going on in my life over the last three or four years. I started writing when I was 15 or 16, and I didn't really take everything seriously, until after the label deal when I was 19. I had all of these songs that I had accumulated. This library of songs was extremely personal, relative to what was going on in my life during those years. We picked all of the songs, making sure that the album was varied, but still flowed. My creative process was different for every song. It just depended on the song; sometimes the songs were about a personal experience or something that was going on around me. A lot of times, the ideas come at really inconvenient times. Like in high school, I would write in class a lot. For some reason now, I tend to get a lot of ideas when I'm flying on airplanes. So my creative process is very spontaneous. It's just whenever inspiration strikes.

The songs are like snapshots of different chapters of your life up to this point.
Very much so, and I think that's cool for my first record to have that.

There are a lot of experiences and sounds. The pop rock style mixed with modern folk really stands out.
I wanted to go for something different. It's mainstream music, but I didn't want to put something out that sounds like every other young girl that plays guitar. I'm glad that it sounds the way it does, because I wanted to have different flavors on the record.

What are some of the folk-influences you draw from?
I love a lot of folk and alt country music. A lot of '70s stuff had a big influence on me, including Carole King, Carly Simon, Bonnie Raitt, James Taylor and Joni Mitchell. Patty Griffin is a more current influence. She's one of my biggest influences along with Ryan Adams. Mindy Smith is another one. All of those people have inspired me to want to make records.

How's the road been touring with such big acts?
It's been great. I absolutely love it. It's so much fun. I can't stay in one place too long, and I love discovering new places and random adventures. So it's been awesome. I love discovering new towns even if they're weird, quirky and cool. The people I've been on the road with have been incredible. They're all people that I'd been a fan of beforehand. So it's really cool to be on the other side now. I'm not classified as a fan anymore, but I'm on the same level as these people, because I'm another artist playing on the bill. Everyone's been so great too, and I've made a lot of good friends. On the last tour, we did a big jam with everyone from the tour at the end. With Cary Brothers and Ben Lee, we all got up onstage and covered Cheap Trick. It's really cool being able to collaborate with other musicians, and get inspiration from hearing them.

As the first artist on MySpace records, you're part of something groundbreaking—a collaboration between the tech world and the music industry. How has the site helped shape your path?
MySpace has been so awesome. I mean obviously they've had a paramount impact on the Internet and social networking. I just feel like the site has been such a great tool for so many things. What's great about it is people are all in different regions, and you can message all of your friends in each region when you're playing. I can see in my statistics too, how many fans I have a certain area. It's been really great to figure out demographics. A lot of other musicians have to go out on the road and find out where their best fan base is. For me, I can see where everything is already, and I can determine what the best regions to go are. It's helped me out in so many other ways too. It's a great way to communicate with fans, share new things, blog about stuff, and it's a great way to show your fans what you've been up to. When I was a kid, if I could've gone to 'N Sync's web page in fourth grade, I would've been freaking out [laughs]. It's great to be able to share with people who love your music. I like being a guinea pig in a way. I'm definitely a believer in trying new things. People can be so afraid to try anything new. I feel like the music industry is often like that. A lot of labels are known for fitting things into a formula. But the funny thing about this business is it's the most unpredictable in the world. You never know what's going to be a hit. Personally, I think you just have to believe 100 percent in what you're doing and find other people on your team who do as well, and just go out there and kill it.

How did your role on One Tree Hill come about?
I auditioned for it late summer. Within about a week's time of waiting, I got the part, and I was totally floored. I didn't even know what to expect. I knew it was going to be great, but I didn't know how much of an awesome experience it was going to be. It came out of nowhere, and it happened really fast, but it's just been awesome. They played six or seven of my songs on the show. It's the perfect audience. Also "One Tree Hill's" just been a great vehicle for new artists. They're amazing at exposing their audience to great new music that's maybe a little under the radar. It's art imitating life, since there are real musicians on the show.

How similar is your character Mia to you?
There are a lot of things about Mia that are very similar to me, and a lot that are different. Mia is very timid and shy, and I'm the exact opposite. I'm really loud and outgoing. I came into the audition, and I was just really excited. I was surprised to get the part, because I knew this girl was supposed to be really quiet and kind of nervous, but it ended up being really amazing. I could tap into the character's essence, because I was totally that girl once. When I was 15 and I was just starting out, I didn't have any confidence that this was what I was going to do. Mia starts out not believing in herself quite yet. There were other parts of the character that were really similar to me. She's just young, and I'm really young. She was supposed to be 17, and I'm 21, but I'm very young-spirited. I love to have fun, and I'm very spontaneous. She ends up coming out of her shell a little bit—not giving anything away—but there's a lot of my own personality in her career. It was cool to do something different than playing myself. It gave me a good idea of how to get into a character. It was a really creative process. It was a crazy Fall, between being on the show and touring! I kind of had a double life. When I was in high school, by day I was a student and on the weekends, I was playing the House of Blues. It's kind of a continuation of that. It was great and I was so glad I was able to do that.

Would you ever think of doing some kind of concept record or visual rock opera given your acting talents?
I don't even know. There are so many fun things out there that you can do. There's so much stuff out there that I'm excited about. Definitely I want to be in something that I can do different artistic things all at once. Right now, my focus is this record—touring and promoting it.

What's next for your music?
I'm constantly writing. I have a lot of different stuff. One day, I'll write a mellow, folk song. The next day, I'll do something that's rocking or mainstream Top-40. I think all of my experiences with this record will help me figure out what I want to do next. I think the next album will be different from this one, but I still want to keep elements of what I am as an artist. No matter what direction I decide to go in, it'll definitely have elements of what you hear on this debut.

There's a tangible excitement in your songs that definitely separates you.
That's good to hear. That's something I want to convey in my music. There's just a certain energy. I love for doing what I do and saying something through a song. It's great other people can relate to it. Having other people experience that energy is why I do it!