Title: Earning her [Leslia Carter] way to fame
Title: Though Leslie Carter is sister to aBackstreet Boy, she's searching for her own identity.
Date: June 30, 2001
Source: S.A. Life; Pg. 1E
Topic: Other
Author: Cynthia Cieluch
If you want to make Leslie Carter mad, just point out that she's a little sister of Backstreet Boys' Nick Carter.
Yes, she is related to the baby-faced boy-band superstar. But the 15-year-old says she is not trying to ride her brother's coattails.
"I do find it hard trying to find an identity of my own," said Carter, who's from Salt Lake City, a stop on Nickelodeon's TEENick 52-city summer tour that features her brother, Aaron, as well as A*Teens, True Vibe, Nonny Price and Myra. The teen pop acts will perform at Fiesta Texas today. Showtime is 6:45 p.m. Tickets cost $6 plus park admission at Star Tickets outlets and at the gate.
While Carter finds it annoying to constantly be compared to her well-known brothers, she is grateful when it comes to other aspects of her career.
"When (Nick) comes home, he tells me what to do when I'm out there onstage," says Carter, who doesn't claim him as her inspiration. She says Nick is just like any older brother - someone she looks to for guidance and support.
She also says it's fun to be on tour with younger brother Aaron. They do have their moments of sibling rivalry, though.
"It can be hard; I mean, he's still my brother," Carter says. "There are lots of fights about stupid things, little things. We just fight about everything, like who's going to go where."
Carter says the two will not be performing onstage together.
Since the recent release of Carter's debut album, "Like Wow," she already has seen success on her own. The album's first single, the title track, is featured on the soundtrack of the hit movie "Shrek." Carter says she "was really surprised" when her mother told her the movie was going to incorporate the song.
For the past couple of years, she has been brushing up her guitar skills and hopes to write her own songs for future albums. She plays the guitar on "They Don't Know About Us," a version of late British pop singer Kirsty MacColl's "They Don't Know."
As Carter tours the country and attends Hollywood premieres, she insists that she's still just a "normal" teen-age girl.
She enjoys singing about boys, she likes hanging out with friends, and she attends a Christian school in Florida year-round (most young stars have tutors).
"I just go out there and sing and have fun," Carter says. "I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing now."
ccieluch@express-news.net
TEENick snapshots
A*Teens
Swedish quartet of two blondes and two brunettes was once named the ABBA Teens, debuted with the all-ABBA album 'ABBA Generation' and toured with 'N Sync, Britney Spears and on the Nickelodeon 'All That' Summer 2000 jaunt. Between tours and promotions, Marie Serneholt, Sara Lumholdt, Dhani Lennevald, and Amit Paul recorded their second album, the ABBA-free 'Teen Spirit.'
Aaron Carter
Thirteen-year-old brother of Backstreet Boy Nick Carter has been topping the charts overseas since the release of his 1998 self-titled debut album. His second album, 'Aaron's Party (Come Get It),' is seeing equal success, cracking the U.S. top 10. While most of the album carries a bubbly beat, the single 'Aaron's Party (Come Get It)' is a rap ditty about throwing a party while parents aren't home. In his newest single, 'That's How I Beat Shaq,' Carter teams up with Shaquille O'Neal. His third album, 'Oh, Aaron,' is due Aug. 7; his songs will be featured in the upcoming movie 'Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius.'
True Vibe
After helping assemble the band 98 Degrees, Jonathan Lippmann decided to create another group for the thriving teen pop scene - a Christian-music band with positive and uplifting lyrics. Lippmann sought out three young singers - Jason Barton, Jordan Roe and Nathan Gaddis - using the same feel for talent he used to put together 98 Degrees. True Vibe released its first, self-titled album in May.
GRAPHIC: COURTESY PHOTO; COURTESY PHOTO : The A*Teens are among the performers on the TEENick tour, stopping today at Fiesta Texas. Leslie Carter also will perform. ; CARTER; The Swedish quartet the A*Teens was once called the ABBA teens.; True Vibe is a Christian-music band that released its first album in May.; Carter
