♫ PLAY ON ▻: YouTube Artist of the Week

YouTube Artist of the Week - Lindsey Stirling

"The only reason I'm successful is because I have stayed true to myself."

- Lindsey Stirling

Have you ever seen anyone dance hip-hop/dubstep while rocking out on the violin? If not, then you haven't met the insanely talented Lindsey Stirling. Lindsey Stirling has become a YouTube sensation over the past three years. She began playing violin at the age of five. In high school, she joined a rock band called "Stomp on Melvin." She started herb YouTube channel, LindseyStomp in 2007. In 2010, she was a contestant on America's Got Talent and made it to the quarter finals as the hip-hop violinist. Lindsey's song "Crystallize" on Youtube was ranked #8 as the most viewed video in 2012.

Since then, she has become an uprising artist in the music industry. She has collaborated with other famous YouTubers including Megan Nicole, Tyler Ward, The Piano Guys, Kurt Hugo Schneider, and Pentatonix.

Lindsey released her debut album Lindsey Stirling on September 18, 2012.

Her upcoming album Shatter Me will be available on April 29, 2014. You can support Lindsey by pre-ordering her album on Pledge Me. Through pledge, you can also order an exclusive signed copy of her CD.

Subscribe to Lindsey on YouTube

Connect with Lindsey Stirling on Facebook & Twitter

Find out how she started: Lindsey Beginnings

YouTube Artist of the Week - Haley Klinkhammer

"Don’t forget your past doesn’t make up who you are, and you were meant for more"
- Haley Klinkhammer

So many inspiring artists these days look to YouTube to broadcast themselves in hopes of becoming the next viral superstar. Famous YouTube musicians such as Tyler Ward, Megan and Liz, Tiffany Alvord, Alex G, and Megan Nicole have become YouTube sensations gaining over one million subscribers. However, not all YouTube musicians start out with goal of becoming famous. YouTube Musician Haley Klinkhammer began posting videos of herself singing and playing guitar in her room nine years ago. I discovered Klinkhammer's cover of Taylor Swift song, Fearless when I was teaching myself guitar in middle school.

Ever since then, I was fascinated by her effortless voice and inspired by her amazing guitar playing skills. I subscribed to Haley Klinkhammer 6 years ago, and was one of her one hundred subscribers. Today, Klinkhammer has over 77 thousand subscribers. Over the years, she has grown so much as an artist. She was part of the We Are More Movement in 2012, which was a movement started by Rachel Taylor of He Is We. We Are More was an empowering movement that encourages people to move beyond their past and come together to make a better tomorrow.

Haley's original music is now available to purchase on iTunes and through BandCamp. Haley released her first EP, Freedom in 2011, which featured four original songs. She launched a kickstarted project in 2012 to fund her next album, Finding Myself, which was released the following year. Her goal was to raise $3,600. However 72 backers pledged a total of $4,965. This allowed her to record seven original tracks. Since then she has started posting weekly cover videos professionally filmed and edited by Nathan Lewis. Her latest video is a cover of The Best Day of My Life by American Authors.