As famous bald guy Phil Collins once said, you've just got to hang in long enough. It was 10 years ago when demo tapes by a duo known as Amelia & Jennifer started making the rounds. A handful of listeners were impressed by the harmonies and the songwriting, but figured that an acoustic, two-woman harmony act doing intensely personal songs couldn't survive outside the folk world. Both Indigo Girls and the Story later proved otherwise, but Amelia & Jennifer had moved on by then. Adding an electric rhythm section, the duo renamed itself Sara Laughs and developed a sound that might nowadays be called grunge-folk. With main singer and songwriter Amelia White taking top billing (though harmony singer Jennifer Staton remains aboard), Iguana Poets, up until now, has been their strongest incarnation, producing a five-song tape that earned them a lot of local attention last year. White's writing has picked up its share of lyrical and melodic depth over the years; the grunge may be gone but a certain feistiness remains. Note the video "Broken Shattered Eyes," which took a non-exploitive look at homelessness. Without a trend to plug into, the Iguana Poets' win shows how a deserving band can build a grassroots fan base over time. The Iguana Poets split up in the middle of last year. Now White is in the midst of recording a solo CD.

-- Brett Milano