in an acoustic format, stripped down to just Dobson and the guitar. The music was different from most music put out at the time, such as recent releases by Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera. In fact, Dobson originally signed with Jive Records, who intended to make her the next big pop star. However, Dobson didn't want to be a pop-star and wanted to make her own type of music, and quickly left the label. On Dobson's second official album Joy, she worked with producers David Lichens, Jon Levine, Howard Benson and Bob Ezrin - living up to the portraits of her heroes she first hung during the recording of her first album: Kurt Cobain, Judy Garland, Coldplay, The Vines and Jeff Buckley. Dobson co-wrote most of the songs on the album - usually composing on guitar, her instrument of choice. "I play the few chords that I know," she says. "I try to write melodies off the same chords. Joy is written with about three chords, and an extra one in the bridge." Sonically the album was rooted alternative rock. Influences Dobson has said that John Lennon and Judy Garland are her primary musical influences, and that her biggest musical inspiration growing up was Michael Jackson: "I swore I was Michael [Jackson]. Then I found out I wasn't Michael [Jackson] and it broke my heart." She also mentions Janet Jackson as a primary influence. At the same time, she went to "every 'N Sync concert there was." Dobson indicated that she would like to work with Jack White, the White Stripes/Raconteurs frontman, because she admires him for his ability to make his ragged rock music become radio-style. She also said that she would love to write a song for the Jonas Brothers. Filmography Discography Fefe Dobson (2003) Sunday Love (2006) Joy (2010) Awards and nominations References External links 1985 births Living people 21st-century Canadian actresses 21st-century Black Canadian women singers Actresses from Toronto Black Canadian actresses Canadian film actresses Canadian people of Jamaican descent Canadian television actresses Canadian women pop singers Canadian women rock singers Canadian women singer-songwriters Def Jam Recordings artists Island Records artists Mercury Records artists Musicians from Toronto People from Scarborough, Toronto Pop punk singers Universal Music Group artists Women punk rock singers