Girl Rock Nation artists Christina Perri and her bassist Jenni Tarma check in for the first round of answers to YOUR questions. The ladies hope to videotape some of these answers, but as you can see in the photo above, Christina is on official vocal rest … KEEP THEM COMING ON OUR FACEBOOK PAGE!

Question from Nick Rivera: Does the camera REALLY add ten pounds… of hair to Elmo?

JT: Yes and no. Elmo is one of the hairiest people you’ll ever see. Mere human cameras can’t really capture the true extent of the whole situation, so it really is something you have to see with your own eyes in order to believe it.

CP:  Haha I agree with Jenni… Elmo’s already the hairiest man I know, the camera just accentuates his hairiness next to our lack of hairiness. However, I am Italian also, and come in 2nd place.

Question from Jessica Lee Schneider: Top 10 things on your bucket list?

CP:  Ahh! Hm… Well right now here’s 5:

1. sell a million albums

2. build a house in Italy

3. have a rad baby

4. retire my parents

5. continue following the path of happiness

JT: I’ve been fortunate enough to knock off a bunch of big personal milestones just in the last couple of years, including doing a worldwide arena tour, getting married and becoming a homeowner. I imagine my bucket list will continue to change and evolve for the rest of my life, but here’s a couple of major things that I still want to get out of the way: I’d like to travel more extensively to a couple of places, including Macchu Picchu and Thailand; I want to continue to improve myself as a musician, specifically getting better at guitar, which I’m terrible at playing; On a slightly more practical note, I really want and/or need to make the garden of my house less sucky, which in reality means getting my husband to make the garden less sucky. Overall, I’m working on becoming a calmer, less mentally frazzled person … fingers crossed.

Question from Jaime Jefferies for Christina: I know you’ve probably got this one already but what does inspire you? And do you write your own songs? They’re amazing songs, and I love the lyrics.

CP: Thanks Jamie!! Everything inspires me, but my biggest inspiration is LOVE. I do write all my own songs and they’re all about something I’ve gone through and experienced. That way, I feel so connected to every word I sing, which enables me to truly connect with you!

Question from Susan Hoggard for Christina: I was wondering what it was like for you to move away from your family on the east coast out to California? Did you ever feel like you were in over your head on your own or were you always confident you were going to be okay?

CP: Susan!! Oh my God, it was the scariest thing I’ve ever done. I have so much family in Philadelphia and tons of friends.  I moved all alone to LA where I knew NO ONE!!!! I cried myself to sleep so many times, which is how I made friends with my neighbors who would come over to check on me.  I had no idea if I was going to be okay, successful or move right back home, but I did BELIEVE I was on the right path. As crazy + winding + broken as it was, I just didn’t give up.

Question from Erik Danielson for Christina: What has amazed you the most about all your fame???

CP: Erik, am I famous? Haha, I try not to think about that, or call it that. I’m just a lucky girl with a big platform to share my music, writing, and voice with. Every single part of this life is a blessing.

Question from Cody Jackson for Christina? What has been the most surreal experience/memory thus far since Jar of Hearts went viral? @codyjackson524

CP: Hi cody! The most surreal moment since JOH went bananas has been existing in the world of music among some of my favorite people. Jason Mraz knowing who I am, being on Jay Leno, getting to travel the world and sing — it’s all surreal… every day.

Question from Meg Vonada for Jenni: First of all you are my favorite bass player of all time, and I’m learning how to play all of Christina’s songs on the bass and they are so much fun to play. But here is the question: do you like 4-string basses or 5? Do you like acoustic basses? Thank you for taking the time to read this and hopefully answer it.

JT: Hi Meg! Thank you, it’s super flattering being anyone’s favorite anything. I have always preferred 4-string basses, although it’s very much a matter of personal preference, and also depends on what style of music you want to play. Same goes for acoustic basses — they can sound lovely on a mellow, down-tempo ballad, but wouldn’t necessarily work on a heavier song. So it’s mostly a question of being versatile and able to bust out the right instrument for the occasion.

Question from Melinda Bruning for Jenni: Do you play with a pick? I think it is easier to play the bass without one so I don’t. Also, do you prefer a four string or a five? Will you sign my bass in Dallas?@MenaCake

JT: Hi lady! I’m in the same boat as you. I also find it much easier to play without a pick as it gives me a lot more control over my tone and general feel. I’m into a warm, rounded tone wherever possible, whereas using a pick gives a lot more attack and emphasizes the “mids” of your instrument. Having said that, I’ve still always found it useful having some picks around as you never know when the situation will call for one; there’s a couple of songs on Christina’s record that we ended up using a pick on as it just sounded better. I really like StarPicks, as they’re far less likely to fall out of my sweaty mitt in the middle of a song. And yes, I will absolutely sign your bass in Dallas.

Question from KT Pierce for Jenni: Please explain your accent. It’s just lovely. ♥ ~ @kt_pierce

JT: Ha! I get a lot of confused questions about the whole accent thing. I grew up moving all over Europe (including France, the Netherlands and the UK) and going to a lot of international schools, so my accent has ended up being a weird mishmash of everything I was exposed to between ages of 11-18. Luckily all my schools had really awesome music departments, because otherwise I’d probably be doing something vastly different with my life right now.

Question from John Huenneke for Jenni: How old were you when you first played bass guitar? What was the name of your first band? Thanks! Have a great show tonight.

JT: Hey John! I started on the upright bass at age 12, and then got into bass guitar shortly after that. Bass players are always in short supply so I was able to play in all kinds of school jazz bands and orchestras right off the bat. All of those aside, I guess my first band would have been when I first went to college at age 18. We were called The Pseudotree, and while we had a great time “being in a band” and doing all the stuff that goes with it, in retrospect I’m also pretty sure we were hilariously bad. Luckily that was well before everybody and their mom had camera phones and YouTube accounts, so there’s very limited hard evidence of the ‘Tree’s existence.