“Where words fail, music speaks.” It’s the tattoo on petite, 20 year old London’s back, and it embodies the heart and vulnerability through which her music speaks to its listeners. A Chicago native, London established herself as an artist at a young age. Singing at age 3 (we have the cassettes to prove it) it was only a matter of time before she started writing music of her own. On her 13th birthday, London picked up a guitar and taught herself to play. Eight short months later, London snuck into a 21 and over open mic and took the stage for the first time. From that moment on, there was no turning back. London recorded her first single “Better Left Unsaid” in October of 2005. “Better Left Unsaid” earned her the number one requested single several weeks in a row on Mixx Studios Radio. With the success of her first single, London quickly gained a loyal online following. In 2008, she was the #1 unsigned folk, and #2 unsigned acoustic/indie artist on MySpace for Illinois. She achieved 3 million plays on YouTube and over 1 million plays on MySpace - all as an unsigned artist. In the summer of 2009, London’s internet success translated to her first record deal when she signed to Severe Records out of Nashville, Tennessee. “I threw my life in a suitcase, couch surfed around Nashville and made my first record. I can’t imagine a better way to do it” London said. Under Severe Records, London teamed up with an all-star cast to create her debut album, Diving Heart First. The album, engineered by legend George Tutko (Blondie, Bob Dylan, Duran Duran) and featuring guitarist Ilya Toshinsky (Taylor Swift, Martina McBride, Kelly Pickler), released in March of 2010 to the delight of her diehard fan base. London’s open and honest lyrics take you on a veritable road trip through her heart that at once welcomes ex-lovers with open arms and again pushes them away with an F-you and a middle finger. From the introspective “Carried Away” to the defiant, in your face “Tools of Persuasion”, or the gut wrenching love letter, “Enough”, Diving Heart First speaks to the wounded heart in all of us. With the initial success of her debut album, came a period of down time for London as she struggled to procure a solid, full time backing band. Finding no luck in the clubs of Chicago, she returned to the place where she first found musical success – the internet. Through an ad on Craigslist, London met guitarist Mark Wendell. Wendell was fresh off of a second place stint with his band, Awake In Reno, on the television show “The Next American Star”, and he fit with London from the start. After having to leave London for a brief time to work with Butch Walker, Wendell returned for good. From there, London developed a relationship through Twitter with Australian drummer Skarlett Saramore while she toured with her band, Chaingang, in support of The Veronicas. Thanks to the generosity of one of London’s fans who watched London and Skarlett’s friendship flourish online, London received a free plane ticket to Australia to meet with Skarlett and bring her back to the states. With Saramore and Wendell locked in, all London needed was a bass player. That proved difficult to find until one day when Wendell brought fellow Awake In Reno band mate Nikki LaBrose to practice. The next day, LaBrose locked himself in Wendell’s basement, skipped class, called off of work, and learned all of the bass off the record in a matter of three days. London’s band was complete. “We’ve instantly become like family” London said. “We fight like siblings sometimes at rehearsal, but we keep each other in line.” That comradery onstage translates to tight sets and an intimate connection to the crowd at shows. London and her band of misfits are currently touring the Midwest in support of Diving Heart First. <a href="https://www.last.fm/music/London+Anderson">Read more on Last.fm</a>. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.