There is a rumor going around that Angelina Moysov, the Russian frontwoman of the rock band Persephone’s Bees, was ordered from a catalog by fellow band member Tom Ayers. When I asked the charismatic singer/songwriter/keyboardist to set the record straight on her entrée to the U.S., she laughs, "That’s a good story. I would like to stick to that," before spelling out the facts, the lilting sounds of the East still accenting her words. While the real story may be a bit more ordinary—a young Moysov was encouraged to leave home in order to pursue her rock and roll dreams by a fellow musician who never made the break himself—the journey of Persephone’s Bees is anything but.

      Angelina Moysov grew up in southern Russia under the Soviet regime, where she was immersed in the diverse sounds of her multi-ethnic country. The stirring songs of gypsy clans blended with traditional Russian folk music and, of course, there was the most coveted treasure for any youngster growing up in the USSR—pop music from the West! By way of the black market, the young singer soon became familiar with the likes of John Lennon, Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd.

      Hooked on Western rock, Moysov managed to scrape together enough money to join her brother in California. Soon after, she began working in a bar in Monterey and writing her first songs in English. It wasn’t long before she bumped into Tom Ayers, a hardworking musician playing on the local bar circuit. Their connection was instant.

      "It was definitely destiny for us to meet. The first time I saw him playing guitar, I thought, This guy is a genius," gushes Moysov. "Even though we grew up on different sides of the world, we grew up with the same type of music. We both understand music the same way and are huge lovers of the song and song structure. We even hear music the same way."

      The two moved to San Francisco and joined with bass player Bart Davenport and drummer Paul Bertolino to form Persephone’s Bees. Named for the Greek queen of the underworld, it’s fitting that the quartet’s sound is full of darkness, mystery and majesty. By wedding the sparkle of some of America’s best pop à la Blondie with the ethnic music of Moysov’s childhood, the band created a sound that was not only wholly modern but incredibly magnetic.

      In fact, the band’s attention-grabbing sound soon became an advertiser’s dream. Before they had even released their major label debut, the group’s songs were featured in television shows like The Sopranos and big-screen pics like Bewitched. The Hilton Hotel chain even based an ad campaign around the band’s pulsing up-tempo tune "Nice Day."

      After a run of exposure like that, most artists would have to be dragged back down to Earth, but that wasn’t the case with Angelina Moysov. The singer was more than a little nervous while hearing her band’s song "City of Love" during a showing of the Nicole Kidman film Bewitched. "The first time it’s kind of uncomfortable and a little scary," the singer admits. "You kind of start thinking, There’s so many great songs out there; why did they pick this one?"

      It’s easy to understand that an artist like Moysov might still feel a twinge of insecurity now and then. After all, it wasn’t more than a couple of years ago that Persephone’s Bees was just one of many bands playing in the San Francisco area wherever and whenever they could. Their jump from local favorites to players on the national scene began when producer Eric Valentine, who had already worked magic for high-profile groups like Good Charlotte and Nickel Creek, heard the band and instantly wanted to record the East Bay players. The band worked with Valentine off and on for about a year on what would become their major label debut, Notes From The Underworld. Now, with a finished product, all the band needed to do was find a label to help them share their music with a wider audience.

      It wasn’t easy. "We did one showcase in Los Angeles that our producer put together, and a couple of major record labels came out and they basically said, ‘This band is not marketable,’" sighs Moysov. "After that, I said, ‘I will never do another showcase again.’ I don’t even want to answer that mentality that I have to go and sell my music to someone who will just kind of stand there and put a stamp on it."

      The band’s luck took a U-turn when Keith Naftaly, the new senior vice president of A&R at Sony/BMG, saw something in the band and quickly signed them to Columbia Records. "We signed really fast and it was more a shock than a celebration," she says. "We couldn’t believe that it was really happening. The only thing I remember is Tom saying, ‘Bob Dylan is on that label!’"

      Now, with their album circulating in stores and a full-scale tour to back it up, the hard part has just begun. With a wealth of acts on the road, a band has to figure out—and quickly—what their strengths are and how to set themselves apart from the crowd.

      For Persephone’s Bees, the answer lies in always delivering a quality product. "In the 1960s and the 1970s, anybody who touched music, they had to deliver quality no matter what you played. Persephone’s Bees definitely has made that a priority," explains Moysov. "It’s about being a true musician. If you become an engineer or anything else, you have to deliver quality at your work; otherwise they will fire you. It’s the same with music. You have to put your whole being into it and try to do your best, and I think that’s the kind of band Persephone’s Bees is."