The story goes that more than 10 years ago Parisian-born Dominique Durand came to the United States to learn how to speak English. She had never sung before and had no aspirations to front a band. But Adam Schlesinger must have known what he had on his hands. Schlesinger, who would later display his awesome ability to create catchy pop tributes (as displayed when he penned the Beatle-drenched "That Thing You Do!" for the Tom Hanks film of the same name as an assignment), must have heard one breathy, heavily accented word from Dominique's mouth and knew that he had a shot at forming his own private Velvet Underground. The trio was rounded out with Andy Chase and Ivy was born.

Read the full Independent Study feature on Ivy at MSNBC, including three tracks available to steam. Watch PM in the weeks ahead for a review on Ivy's latest release In the Clear.