(02 August 2011) Far From Things That We Know (tinyOGRE (USA), 2011) is a new three-song EP from emerging Nashville-based musician Madi Diaz. The digital EP previews her forthcoming full-length album, which will be released in early 2012. Already receiving critical buzz for her 10 Gun Salute EP (2009) and her independently released full-length Skin and Bone (2009), the artist is said to be "sparkling, smacked of indie-pop sensation Feist."

The EP was recorded in Los Angeles and Charlottesville, VA with world-renowned producer John Alagia (John Mayer, The Dave Matthews Band). The EP and forthcoming full-length feature Diaz alongside her long-time collaborator, Kyle Ryan. Of making the recording process, Diaz comments, "Working with John was great. He helped us really focus on material Kyle and I had been working with for such a long time. He was like a ship captain looking over our shoulders making sure we kept our course steady and headed in the right direction."

The 25-year-old Nashville-based musician is herself a bit of a contrast, growing up in Lancaster, PA, surrounded by Amish farms, where she was home schooled by her Peruvian mother, Nancy, a proponent of early childhood development and the visual arts, and her Danish father, Eric, a woodworker and musician. Madi began piano lessons at age five at the behest of her father, himself a keyboard player in the Frank Zappa tribute band, Project Object. The family's home stereo fed her a steady diet of Metallica, Sheryl Crow, The Beatles and Whitney Houston.

In her early teens, Diaz switched from piano to guitar and when she sought advanced instruction, she landed at School of Rock in Philadelphia. Her family eventually moved to the city and both Eric and Madi’s brother, Max, went on to become part of the faculty.

A highlight on both the EP and full-length is stand-out track, "Let’s Go," with "catchy hooks that rival the pop-laden records that pervade today's charts," writes Seventeen Magazine. The EP is backed with the gorgeously arranged guitar-laden rock track "Johnny" and the wistful "Heavy Heart" that further illustrate the singer's range of talent.

Already gaining notice through television placement, Diaz's songs have been featured on ABC Family’s Pretty Little Liars and Lifetime's Drop Dead Diva and Army Wives. Additionally, Diaz has toured alongside The Civil Wars and Landon Pigg as well as part of the Ten Out of Tenn collective. Diaz recently collaborated with acclaimed musician Joseph Arthur, providing backing vocals on four tracks from his new album, The Graduation Ceremony. Watch for her full length album in early 2012.