"Who's Hot": Jennifer Terran

Quote: "The machinery of the industry has been screwing artists over for so long. The time is coming when they're gonna get their asses kicked."

If there was a window into the mind of Jennifer Terran, through it you'd see a fiercely independent woman flipping the bird to the recording industry. That's because she's about to release a new pop/rock CD that offers a peek into the experience of a musician which includes her response to an arena where dollars make more sense than creative freedom.

Emerging for the first time on a public stage in more than two years, Terran, backed by eight musicians, will celebrate the debut of her third CD, "The Musician," on her independent label, Grizelda Records, with a concert 7:30pm. Sunday at Soho, 1221 State St. A second performance is scheduled at 7:30pm Oct. 15. Tickets are $10 and may be reserved by calling 962-7776.

"The album questions and challenges these beliefs we have that we need a recording industry to have a career in music," said Terran, a private music instructor who has has taught hip-hop dance for 14 years. "My feeling is that the recording industry could not exist without the musician but the musician can exist without the recording industry."

The prospect of being signed to a major label may be a dream for some artists, but in the industry's present form, it's Terran's nightmare- one that is reflected in the new CD.

"The industry has gotten to the point where they put the carriage in front of the horse, so to speak," she said. "They're putting money before music."

Rather than drinking in artists' creative juices, many recording execs are squeezing them dry, according to Terran. The result is a bland product that's unpalatable to her ears.

"They're so scared that something won't sell that they stay by tried and true examples," she explained. "What you get is a real homogenized sound on the radio."

To preserve the integrity of her work, Terran, whose late mother, Adel, was a vocalist and father, Tony, a professional studio trumpet player, took matters entirely into her own hands this time around. During her sabbatical from the stage, she holed up in her new recording studio at her Santa Barbara home more than 10 hours a day and poured herself into "The Musician".

"I'm pushing my potential so that I have the power to communicate what it is I really want to communicate," said the breathy artist, adding that the production process brought her to her "bloody knees."

From writing the lyrics to mixing to engineering, Terran hopes to prove you don't need a major label to bottle talent. Just a few manuals, the willingness to ask questions when you encounter a roadblock and a heap of fortitude will do.

"What really felt good about this record was having a vision in my mind and manifesting it," she said. "That's what this record's all about - it's about me using my own hand to paint the picture."