Tristan Prettyman

Tristan Prettyman is difficult to categorize. Everything written about her blames her sound on beach-party superhero Jack Johnson, which might have something to do with the fact that they both treat surfing as a religious experience and perform their stripped-down acoustic pop with the same desperate need. But San Diego native Prettyman works from a darker place that's more in sync with her biggest influence, Ani DiFranco. She's no Joni Mitchell, though that requisite muse of female singer-songwriters rears her head in Prettyman's lyrical execution. And how many other female singer-songwriters have modeling gigs (for Quiksilver's Roxy line) or perform onstage covers of Britney Spears's boob-twisting classic "Toxic"?