Listen to Toby Lightman's Bird on a Wire NOW!

"It's kind of amazing how things have fallen into place with my career," Lightman, 28, says by phone. "I'm not sure any of it was really by design."

Long before she made her public singing debut — belting out a gospel-infused version of "Bridge Over Troubled Water" at her high school graduation — she suspected she'd always, somehow, be connected to music. A violinist from the age of 6, she discovered that her soulful singing voice turned heads when she was a teen and picked up the guitar in college. By the time Lightman graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a degree in film production, the focus was squarely on music.

So she did what needed to be done: She moved to New York and worked as a bartender while doing gigs and shopping her songs around. A fortuitous meeting with Wyclef Jean led to him producing her demo, which, in turn, led to another producer, some well-received showcases, and a deal with Lava/Atlantic. Lightman's engaging but slightly unfocused debut generated plenty of buzz locally, but the disc — marketed as somewhere between Avril and Ani — slipped just under the radar commercially.

"Radio play and having a hit is amazing, but it can also be short-lived," says Lightman. "My priority now is about being successful for the long haul — doing good work and having a base to fall back on forever."

Lightman's just-released follow-up, Bird on a Wire (Lava), has a sharper edge and a stronger R&B/soul vibe. She's moved away from the synthesized drumbeats she used to adore. "My tastes have changed. I've changed," she says. "I wanted it to be more organic, more raw."

The album has Lightman flexing more musical muscle throughout, from the soul groove of "Slippin'" to the gospel-esque footstomper "Don't Wake Me."

A confident performer whose honey-and-whiskey vocals can surprise listeners ("I guess because I'm so small, they don't expect a big voice"), Lightman says she hasn't minded spending much of this year opening for big-name pop acts. "I'm a very competitive person. So my attitude is, 'I'll show these people.' I don't really care if they're talking while I'm singing — I'll just sing louder."

But playing for her own fans is sheer bliss: "I know they're there to see me and I'm there to see them. There isn't anything better than that."

(n_pensiero@citypaper.net)

Listen to Toby Lightman's Bird on a Wire NOW!