Ben Lee

Never mind that in 1993 Ben Lee was a child phenomenon with A-list indie credibility -- today he's a career songwriter climbing the ladder like everyone else. His boss on this job is producer John Alagia, helmsman to records by Dave Matthews, John Mayer, and David Gray, while coworkers include Mandy Moore. If these names evoke a Top 40 scene, you get an idea of where Lee is trying to go. While the 12 mostly sentimental songs on Ripe represent an especially conventional product, "Love Me Like The World Is Ending" and "Birds and Bees" stand out as employee-of-the-month output.