New York-based singer/songwriter Rachael Yamagata has a big family. In fact, she has family in Salt Lake City.

"We're huge," said Yamagata during a phone call from New York. "Every time one of my CDs is released, my publicist calls me and says, 'There's something happening with it in Utah.'

"And I love the mountains there, and my cousins were ski instructors at Snowbird. I love Utah."

Yamagata said her musical journey started with the harmonies of Simon & Garfunkel and classical music.

"There also was Elton John, Fleetwood Mac, the Beach Boys and the Beatles," she said. "And then I found some music with rhythm when I was in a funk band called Bumpus. I took in a lot of Sly & the Family Stone. And I also got into other singer/songwriters like Tom Waits.

"I guess my influences are all over the place — Led Zeppelin, David Bowie. Yeah. Everything was my influence."

In 2004, Yamagata released her first solo CD, "Happenstance." From there, her music has been heard on various TV shows, including "How I Met Your Mother," "Nip/Tuck," "Alias," "One Tree Hill" and "The O.C.," to name a few.

When it came time to record her follow-up CD, "Elephants ... Teeth Sticking Out," she knew she wanted to do something different.

"I had a lot of rock songs," she said. "And my producer and I decided to do a two-CD release, because I had put all the softer, more introspective songs in one pile and the harder, louder ones in another."

Yamagata's main producer on this album, Mike Mogis, sat down with her, and they came to the conclusion that if there was going to be a rock disc in the release, it would be a rock disc.

"We didn't want pop rock or anything like that," she said. "With Mike's experience working with underground rock bands, he knew exactly what I wanted."

Producer John Alagia, who worked with Yamagata on "Happenstance," also worked a bit on the new album.

"I love both producers," she said. "Both are different but know how to get me to do things. Mike gets me to take risks and John coaxes me gently. They are opposites, but I work well with them."

• LENKA, the waifish Australian singer/songwriter whose song "The Show" was heard in "Ugly Betty" and Old Navy commercials, said she is "bossy" when it comes to working with producers.

"I hand-picked producers to help with my (self-titled) CD," she said during a phone call from Los Angeles. "Although I worked with different producers on different songs, the album has some stylish consistency. And that's because I knew what I wanted and make sure the producers did as well."

When Lenka decided to pursue music over acting, she found influences through the music of Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Led Zeppelin and Bjork.