You may assume that Beth Thornley is just another female singer/songwriter but she's not. After hearing the first exhilarating chord changes of "Stand," the opening track of her album "My Glass Eye", you'll soon discover that Beth is not your ordinary songwriter.

On My Glass Eye, Beth's second collection, you'll hear echoes of highly regarded stylists like Ben Folds, Beth Orton, Matthew Sweet, and Aimee Mann. There are hints of Sheryl Crow, Fiona Apple, even Tom Waits. Beth shares traits with all of these songwriters, and she takes great pride in assembling the kind of work that measures up to such an esteemed group. But she's also intensely original, with the ability to look and sound like no one but herself.

On the strength of My Glass Eye, many are about to find out just who this singer/songwriter is. The recording, produced by Beth's faithful and gifted producer Rob Cairns, takes a kaleidoscopic trip through pop music, stopping frequently at various scenic overlooks-power pop, hard rock, piano confessionals, even acoustic blues.

"I've avoided being a romantic," admits Beth. "I wanted to write with a broad range of view, not just love songs; more Elvis Costello vinegar and less pop sugar.

If all stylistic hopscotch and intricate subject matter makes Beth somewhat elusive to categorize, then so be it. "I don't know what my box is," she says. "I'm definitely a singer-songwriter, but that doesn't mean I'm only a light-a-candle, sing-a-pretty-song artist.."

Here's what we do know about Beth. She is Alabama-born and a Southern girl at heart. After getting a classical college music degree she decided that she'd really rather rock. She ventured to Los Angeles and tracked down the one friend she had there. At the time, she intended to spend a few nights on a sofa. That was a few years ago. "I was so naïve then," she admits. "But I ended up staying in L.A. because I wanted to check out the music scene. I thought I was a musician at the time, but had no idea how wrong I was and how much I still needed to learn."

Beth got an office job, took some voice lessons and joined a couple of bands as a singer/keyboard player. "All the while I kept asking myself, 'How do I make a music career?'" Her vocal coach told Beth something that served as a critical signpost in her career. "He said, 'There are a million singers out there. But if you want any control you've got to be a songwriter, not just a chick singer.'" Struck by the decision, and the possibility of gaining some control over her career, Beth immediately started writing. "I'm so thankful he said that to me. I knew I wanted a career in music but I didn't know how to get where I was going until I started writing."

Since then, Beth has grown to become an exceptional songwriter, capable of trotting out pearls of emotion and passion, colored with canny observations and inspired storytelling. Her debut, a self-titled indie effort from 2003, earned Beth lots of attention; her songs "I Will Lie" and "Done" were named as a rock category finalist in the '03 and '05 USA Songwriting Competition respectively and many of her songs have found homes in film and on the small screen alike. Her tracks have been featured in a variety of television and film projects including the Hillary Duff film The Perfect Man, Scrubs, The Hills, Paradise City, Book of Ruth (a CBS movie of the week), Beautiful People, Dawson's Creek, Roswell, the Opus Films picture Between and the indie film Life With Fiona .

www.myspace.com/beththornley