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Toby Lightman Bio​

Toby Lightman is an award-winning singer-songwriter and self-taught producer whose pure, soulful voice has captivated audiences for over two decades. After discovering her vocal gift performing a solo at her high school graduation, she taught herself guitar and landed a major-label deal with Lava Records, with only three songs to her name. Her debut album Little Things landed on the Billboard Top 100, drawing comparisons to Lauryn Hill, Sheryl Crow, and Norah Jones, and earned her musical guest appearances on Letterman, Conan, CBS This Morning, and many more. She has since toured with legendary artists including Rob Thomas, Jewel, Train, and Joan Armatrading, and was offered a coveted opening slot by her idol, Prince.

As an independent artist, Lightman received the 2025 SONA Emerging Songwriter Award presented by YouTube Songwriters, and has placed over 100 songs in film, TV, and advertising, as well as penning original songs for PBS’s Sesame Street. Lightman became impassioned about writing songs that capture the full emotional arc of being human. While mastering her craft, she held onto sage advice from Prince: to do more and move away from the traditional mindset of relying on labels and managers to pave the way. He encouraged her to take control and produce her own sound. She took that to heart, and during years of battling infertility, Lightman wrote songs that became a form of personal therapy while she taught herself to produce them entirely on her own. Those songs became her ninth studio album, After All.

A passionate advocate for women in music production, she now returns with Stars, her second self-produced and tenth studio album. Written during a year of navigating the loss of a friend, family illness, and hard-won recovery, she emerges not just intact, but luminous, hopeful, rising, and ready to step fully into the light. The album's first single, "Higher," was covered by an American Idol finalist and hit #1 on iTunes, while her original went on to win Best American Roots Song for North America at the Intercontinental Music Awards. "I am emboldened to show other women of my generation that we get better over time." Lightman is committed to this message in her music and in life, and is ready to shine.