Branch leads Virgin Megatour lineup

Guitar-slinging femme fatale Michelle Branch will headline the Virgin Megatour stopping in Starkville tomorrow.
The show begins at 8 p.m.
Pianist Joe Firstman will open for the 20-year-old.
Up-and-coming rockers Rooney were scheduled to play with Branch and Firstman, but canceled in march.
Branch said in a press release she was influenced by ’60s and ’70s folk rock. Branch plays the acoustic and electric guitar [See related story, 4B].
“My music is very personal,” Branch said. “I prefer for my fans to listen and develop their own opinions. Sometimes what I write and feel has totally different meanings to the people listening.”
Branch found fame with her 2001 release The Spirit Room. The album earned Branch a Grammy and some spending money-it sold over 2.5 million copies.
The album wasn’t Branch’s first. She released Broken Bracelet, an acoustic self-produced album, in 2000.
Branch signed her first record deal when she was 14.
“I think my being signed at 14, it allowed me to further broaden my knowledge. Not only have I been able to live a life as a teenager, but I’ve also gotten a worldwide education, too,” she said. “I’ve been all over the world and I’ve seen so many different cultures.”