Music: Ingrid Michaelson does it her way

Ingrid Michaelson has become the new poster child for indie-music success. The little-known New York singer/songwriter sold 175,000-plus copies of an album she put out on her own. Of course, it helped that a Hollywood soundtrack supervisor discovered her music on MySpace. One tune wound up on "Grey's Anatomy" and another in a TV commercial for Old Navy. The latter song, "The Way I Am," has also made Michaelson, 28, the first unsigned artist to get a video in regular rotation on VH1. Now she comes to town Monday for a sold-out show at the Fine Line with Dan Wilson and others before hitting the road for a huge summer tour with the Dave Matthews Band.

Q: How does the Hotel Cafe Tour work?

A: It's very easygoing and relaxed. One person does a few songs, another person does a few songs, I do a few songs, and so on and so forth until you come back around again. I sing with a couple of different people. It's sort of a mish-mash.

Q: What sparked "The Way I Am"?

A: My brain was just thinking that I'm going to be alone forever. You have to live with your flaws.

Q: What feedback have you gotten from fans about the song?

A: They think it's a sweet little thing. It talks about love in a really simple but intelligent way. It says what other people are thinking. It's so succinct.

A: We are text-message friends. I've never met her. She reached out to me on the Internet and we got to talking and we exchanged phone numbers. My MySpace page has been hacked into and it's been gone for over a week. I'm MySpace-less. It's horrible. It's like my soul is gone.

Q: How did you feel about your song being used to sell sweaters?

A: I don't really care. It's a way of getting a lot of people to hear [the song] without having to pay for tons of radio promotion.

Q: How many Old Navy sweaters do you have?

A: They gave me two. I wear them when it's cold out. I also got a gift card. My career is based on that commercial. I'm very happy the way things have turned out.

A: Sometimes it felt like nothing. Sometimes it felt really scary. Sometimes it felt really great. You can't really define it. It's so out of your realm of belief.

Q: How would you describe Ingrid Michaelson?

A: Grumpy. Tired. Hungry. Fairly optimistic. Overwhelmed. Needy. A little self-centered. Nurturing. I'm funny as all hell. Sarcastic.

Q: And I didn't even ask about your glasses and all the Lisa Loeb comparisons.

A: Thank you.