IvyLevanVEVO

@ivylevanvevo

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When she was 16, Ivy Levan hotfooted it out of her Arkansas hometown and moved to Los Angeles to launch the singing career she'd long coveted. "I didn't have any real plan," recalls Levan, now 26. "I just knew I needed to get out of there as fast as I could, so two weeks before I was supposed to graduate high school, I took off for L.A. with my mama." After a few false starts—including a stint at a major label that tried to refashion the fabulously brash singer-songwriter as a Celine Dion-esque balladeer—and a foray into acting and modeling to make ends meet, Levan breathed new fire into her musical pursuits by returning to her Southern heritage. From Benjamin Weinman of The Dillinger Escape Plan to Diplo, Ivy's blossoming talent has been recognized by some of the most respected players in the music community. Now, with her debut EP Introducing the Dame, Levan serves up a brand of blues-infused pop that boldly flaunts both her larger-than-life voice and gritty-yet-glossy, in-your-face