Is there room for Sinners and Saints in the music industry? Tamar Kaprelian thinks so

With her debut and the charitable work behind it, the singer earns her wings

By Selena Fragassi
Published: October 20th, 2010 | 7:00am

If timing is everything, Tamar Kaprelian couldn’t have found a more perfect moment to make her debut in the bull and bear entertainment industry. The Armenian piano princess and sultry singer is a prime representative of an exotic culture that is on a pedestal right now thanks to the notorious Kardashian clan whose front-page lives play out for the cameras, which are stationed just a short while from Kaprelian’s Westlake Village home.

But while the Kardashian’s thrive on glamour and gossip, the 22-year-old Kaprelian’s heritage has grounded her in a world that can turn shallow and cutthroat before a note is even played.

“I grew up in a loving, sheltered environment,” she says of an upbringing in a musical home that introduced her to influential greats like Queen, McCartney, and her personal idol, Billy Joel. “In the Armenian culture, we’re very close knit and family means everything to us. My parents kept me normal and kept me sane while the music industry is really crazy and everyone in it is crazy.”

Kaprelian speaks from example. After her Doris Day-like discovery at a shopping mall when she was 15, the singer was soon ushered into the manufactured fast track, signing to one of the world’s biggest labels and parting ways before her debut was even released due to creative differences.

“I’m a believer that everything happens for a reason, and I knew early on that the situation wasn’t right for me. When it didn’t work out, I was completely devastated.” It was an unfortunate outcome that could have deterred Kaprelian from future musical aspirations. Instead she continued her studies at UC Berkeley and spent a year-and-a-half honing the sounds that would make up this year’s debut, Sinner or a Saint (Interscope). Luckily, she says, “I had enough people working with me and believing in me.”

One of those people was Ryan Tedder, vocalist for the pop group OneRepublic who is likely best known for the song “Apologize,” which hit Top 40 and was prominently remixed by Timbaland. In fact, it was that song that rocketed Kaprelian back to her own recording career. Upon the recommendation of a producer in 2008, Kaprelian decided to take the route of many YouTube discoveries and upload a video where she covered the hit single.

“I figured I would check out OneRepublic’s YouTube channel to see what videos they had and to understand more of how YouTube worked. And that’s when I realized that the band was holding a video contest for the best cover of ‘Apologize’” she says of the serendipitous timing. Just weeks after entering, Kaprelian would receive a phone informing her she had won, which awarded her the band’s personal introduction to her video. But more importantly, Kaprelian also earned the attention of Tedder and Interscope Records who, together, worked with her to finish Sinner or a Saint, which was released on August 24, six years after Kaprelian first began working on it.

The album is ripe with innocent piano ballads, often steered by Kaprelian’s airy and heartfelt vocals: “Purified” is an ode to her friend and producer, inspired by Carole King’s Tapestry; “March Mornings” is modeled after her favorite Beatles song (“Eleanor Rigby”) and written as a reaction to the excitement of signing to her label. But perhaps the most effusive track is the title number, co-written with Tedder, which Kaprelian says hints at her dual personality. Yet based on her charitable work with the Drive Out Hunger Tour and the family foundation started by her grandfather, it’s clear Kaprelian always errs on the side of saint.

“My grandfather actually started a charity about 30 years ago that sponsors 25-30 young college students and puts them through school. Eventually, it’s something I want to take one day,” she says. Yet, her do-goodery doesn’t end there. “Something I promised my mom we’d do one day is go to Armenia and start an orphanage.”

In Kaprelian’s case, it must be true that good things come to those who wait and, well, do good unto others. Like her song “New Day” surmises, there’s plenty ahead for the singer-songwriter. In fact, the first time she heard the song was on The Hills about a year ago, in a scene that could best represent Kaprelian’s own fresh start: “It was the season five finale, right when Heidi and Spencer were getting married and Lauren left the show and drove off into the sunset.”

Tamar Kaprelian official site

Tamar Kaprelian MySpace page

Interscope Records