Curfman began playing the guitar at age 10. Now she's singing the blues -- and getting high praise for her hit album, "Loud Guitars, Big Suspicions"

April 10, 2000
Web posted at: 5:20 p.m. EST (2120 GMT)

A CNN WorldBeat Report

(CNN) -- How do you sing like a woman of experience when your mom says you're too young to date? Shannon Curfman begs this question.

This 14-year-old Fargo, North Dakota, native is the next sensation of wise-beyond-their-years teen blues musicians. She's joined the likes of Jonny Lang and Kenny Wayne Shepherd as fresh-faced phenomenons new to the music scene.

Despite her youth, Curfman says she's a veteran of making music.

	ALSO
Biography: Shannon Curfman

"I first started singing, I guess, before I could talk," Curfman told WorldBeat Correspondent Serena Yang. "And I guess when I started singing on stage and stuff, I was about 7. But since I was about 3 or 4, I had put on shows and things for family and friends."

Curfman discovered the guitar at age 10. "Guitar is something that is so diverse," she said. "And you know, it was something that I could just go out there and play by myself and actually be able to sing."

	AUDIO
"Playing With Fire" 187K MP3 or 257K WAV sound "Promises" 79K MP3 or 108K WAV sound (Courtesy Arista Records)

Not long after picking up the instrument, Curfman was opening for major-label bands, and things have only gone up from there. Curfman recently finished touring as the opening act for John Mellencamp.

How does someone so young write songs with so much life packed in them?

"I have to leave a lot of it up to my imagination just because I haven't had the experience ... as the other musicians have that are older than me or whatever," she said. "But I mean, at my age or even younger than me, you know what the basic feelings are. You know when someone's hurt."

Curfman's not letting emotions get the best of her, though. She's also developing a business sense to accompany her musical acumen, because Curfman said she wants control of her career as well as her songs.

"I like being able to have control of my own music and be able to (control) a big part of my career," she said. "This is something that I'm going to be doing for the rest of my life."