She has garnered comparisons to Adele, Feist, and Norah Jones, but for 21-year-old college student Sara Jackson-Holman, nothing matters more than her debut full-length, When You Dream, to be released May 25th.

"I am so excited about my finished record," says Jackson-Holman.  "I loved the entire process."

It happened by chance that Portland, Oregon-based independent record label Expunged Records and Bend, Oregon-based musician Sara Jackson-Holman came in contact.  As label president Anthony McNamer explains it, he still doesn't know what compelled him to click on Sara's Myspace page, but he did, and the rest is, as they say, history.

It all started with Sara attending a Blind Pilot concert.  She then went to their Myspace page and added a fan comment.  The next thing she knows, McNamer contacts her, asking her if the voice on her Myspace page was truly hers.

"I had seen Blind Pilot and fell in love with their music," explains Jackson-Holman.  "I wrote on their Myspace wall.  It was a typical fan post, telling them I loved their music and asking if they were planning to come back through anytime soon.  Their label (McNamer), was looking through their comments one day, randomly clicked on my picture, heard my music, and wrote me asking if I had a demo CD."

Surprisingly, she did not.

However, several conversations with McNamer and a few home recordings later, McNamer was  hooked and signed her to Expunged Records.   

Things were moving quickly for the then 20-year-old classically-trained pianist and songwriter.  All-of-the-sudden a medium of communication that happily married her favorite passions (piano, poetry, and singing) had turned into a dream come true for her, an adventure that Jackson-Holman would embrace, resulting in her first album, When You Dream.

"I love dreams, and in general I am fascinated by the inner workings of the mind," she explains, discussing the album title, its overall theme and the imagery threading through the 11-track debut, which contemplates everything from dreams to the sea, sky and trees, belonging and loneliness, love and longing, forgetting and remembering.

Her first time in the studio was surreal.

“My first time in the studio, I was sick.  I was sick a lot at the time because I worked all summer with two and three year olds at a crisis nursery.  My voice was probably an entire octave lower,” she laughed, "but it could not dampen my enthusiasm at finding myself in the recording studio for the first time."

With only five or six songs completed by the time Expunged Records had decided to do a full-length with her, Jackson-Holman spent the summer writing the rest of the album.

"I wrote the rest of my album over the summer, and with every step the process seemed more real.  But, I still feel that I haven't fully grasped the entirety of my circumstances."

Though she started out recording the songs as she had hear them in her mind, the addition of instrumentation and harmonies during production fleshed them out, supporting and strengthening each song.  The way in which the production process affected her songs was surprising and exciting for Jackson-Holman. To be exposed to so many different possibilities in the way a song could develop, and to be able to explore these possibilities with Norwood was an incredible learning experience.   The resulting album is one Jackson-Holman feels is the record she had dreamed of.

"The song most affected by the production was probably 'Maybe Something's Wrong,’” she says.  "The instruments we added gave it a darker, richer texture that I had not really anticipated when I wrote it.

"Also, 'When You Dream' took on a more empty, dream-like state when the electronic-sounding drums were incorporated.   That really enhanced the song’s character.”

When asked to analyze and describe the meaning of her lyrics and her songs, Jackson-Holman isn't quick to jump the gun and explain what she was thinking when she wrote them, because, as she will tell you, even her owninterpretations change with each day.  And, besides, she'd rather have the
listener come to their own meanings.

"Each song means something different to me depending on the day.  The thing I really love about music is that each listener brings his or her own life and experiences to each song, giving a song multiple meanings."

With a completed record in hand, a supportive record label, and an itch to perform, Jackson-Holman's goals are simple: she wants to hit the road, tour, and sell lots of copies of "When You Dream."  After
one listen to the record, even the most skeptical of critics will be amazed that this music and these lyrics were created by a woman of Jackson-Holman’s age.

When You Dream just may be the runaway classic of 2010.