Owl City cohort Breanne Duren digging "Gold"

Heretofore known as the cute girl sweetly singing and playing keyboards beside the cute boy in Owl City, Twin Cities native Breanne Düren is leaving the nest in a big way. Her debut EP, "Sparks," was issued Tuesday and shot to No. 3 on the iTunes pop chart, thanks in part to her single "Gold Mine" being a free iTunes "Discovery Download" all week. One of the customer reviews under the single snidely compares it to Rebecca Black, and you can bet a big chunk of the music industry will see that comparison in a positive light.

A 23-year-old graduate of Apple Valley High School, Düren enlisted the school's dance team to perform in the video for "Gold Mine" (now showing at TeenVogue.com). She was in New York City yesterday performing via webcast at Livestream.com (archived here). Next week, she heads to Los Angeles to perform at the Hotel Cafe. She will be back for a hometown release party May 20 at 7th Street Entry, same night as Tommy Stinson's gig with a full band in the First Ave main room. Who else besides me will be crossing over that night?