Cara Salimando, 'Dust' -- Video Premiere

By Ashley Iasimone Posted Sep 3rd 2010 11:00AM

Most 18-year-olds have graduation, prom and a social life to worry about. Cara Salimando has all of that on her plate, but she's also got an EP to promote -- and if that weren't enough to keep her busy, there's also tours with artists like Ingrid Michaelson, opening spots for Mary Chapin Carpenter and a full-length album in the works.

In her passionate new video for 'Dust,' Cara showcases the raw talent that helped put her on the fast track to music stardom. In the clip, she sits in a stark empty room at a piano -- her powerful voice and candid lyrics require no additional music video flair. Interspersed with the performance shots, we see Cara perusing the streets of Paris. "The video for 'Dust' tells the story of a girl and a boy whose paths, unbeknownst to either one, cross several times sever times," Cara tells PopEater. "The two have several close encounters, eventually noticing each other, but never truly come together."

Cara's music specializes in capturing the emotions and anxieties that so often come with young love. She's an artist truly tapped in to the mindset of young adults like her, something songwriters have always strived for but don't always achieve. It's a quality that makes Cara so relatable and her music so easy to connect with, although during her recent visit to PopEater's New York office, she admitted that there were parts of teenage life she was missing out on herself.

"Today they're all at the aquarium on a field trip," Salimando said of her high school friends when she visited the PopEater staff. "I was like, 'Oh, I can't come,' and they're like, 'Oh, why not?' I'm like, 'I have a lot of stuff to do in New York.' They're like, 'Well, you're gonna miss the fish.' Yeah, that sucks."

The singer-songwriter, who's influenced by fellow songstresses like Regina Spektor and Fiona Apple, was discovered in an unlikely place: a New Jersey taco bar. After she played a set at the joint, she was approached about a potential record deal by an A&R rep who had first heard her on MySpace.

"I just kind of was always musical, even as a baby," Salimando explained. "I was really annoying. You know how everyone had toy instruments? I was that one that never, ever, ever stopped playing the piano one. It was terrible. There's a video of my brother smashing me over the head with it to make me stop."

The PopEater staff's reaction to her charming performance wasn't quite so violent. Salimando, still happy to be behind the keys (they're the real kind, now) and other instruments, treated the small group to a handful of her tunes, including 'Dust,' 'The Way Things Are' and 'Cigarette Smoke,' accompanied by musician Julia Sinclair on guitar.

Check out the exclusive premiere of 'Dust' and flip through some photos from Cara's PopEater visit below.