Caillat bubbles out from MySpace

It's one of the key questions of today's online world: Facebook or MySpace? Ask Colbie Caillat, and she can't help laughing.

"MySpace, of course," she says coyly.

When it comes to social-networking sites, Facebook might have more buzz at the moment. But Caillat, who headlines Saturday's Carolina Hope Festival in Cary, has her reasons for showing brand loyalty to MySpace.

Two years ago, Caillat was just another unknown singer-songwriter in her early 20s, trying to decide whether to go back to community college in California. Then she put a few songs on MySpace.com/ColbieCaillat, including a maddeningly catchy little ditty called "Bubbly," and suddenly people started paying attention.

Thanks to millions of online plays and downloads, Caillat already had a good-size following by the time her debut album came out in 2007. "Coco" (Universal Republic Records) has sold more than 1 million copies, and it still sits in the top 50 of the Billboard 200 album sales chart more than a year after its release.

Caillat is grateful to her breakthrough venue, though she doesn't spend much time lurking on MySpace anymore.

"Every once in a while, when I've got a little downtime, I'll still go to MySpace and upload new pictures, post bulletins, let people know what's going on," she says. "Not that often, though. I don't know how anybody does more than one of those. MySpace takes up so much time. How can anybody do two -- that and Facebook?"

Even though Caillat has to grapple with the same modern-day time management issues as everyone else, her music is a throwback to the sunny sounds of 1970s-vintage California pop.

It's a legacy she comes by honestly, because she's a literal inheritor of the genre. Her father, Ken Caillat, co-produced Fleetwood Mac's signpost albums "Rumours" and "Tusk."

Sonically, Caillat sounds like a poppier Sheryl Crow, or John Mayer with better tunes. Throw in her dusky voice and down-to-earth amiability, and Caillat is a pop star you can imagine sticking around for a while. And she's already working on the next generation of fans.

Caillat's latest release is a cover of "Kiss the Girl," which was originally sung by Sebastian the crab in the 1989 Disney cartoon "The Little Mermaid." Caillat's version appears on "Disneymania 6: Music Stars Sing Disney... Their Way!" (Walt Disney Records).

"When they asked me to cover a Disney song for that, my manager brought up 'Kiss the Girl,' " she says. "And it was just a total flashback. I loved that song when I was a kid, that jam reggae style. I love that kind of music."

Now, of course, Caillat is under pressure to deliver a follow-up. She hasn't been writing much lately, but she's not worried. She says she will often go months without writing anything, and then songs will suddenly come in bunches.

Besides, there are worse problems to have than following up a hugely popular debut album.

Strange that, just two years ago, she flunked an audition for "American Idol" -- with her future hit "Bubbly," no less.

"It's funny to look at that now, but I completely understand it," she says. "I was super shy and really nervous, so I was not what they were looking for. I'm still kind of that way, although I've gotten a lot better at being onstage.

"But every show, I'm pretty timid for the first three songs or so. There are times I get so nervous I want to run off, but not for any real reason. You don't get over stage fright, you just get through it."