Lisa Loeb, Re-Branded

I'm here to interview Lisa Loeb, but nearly an hour after I've arrived, I've met her stylist, stylist's husband and child, hairdresser and make-up artist, publicist and publicist's assistant, but not Lisa Loeb. In her Chelsea apartment in Manhattan, I'm witnessing the cogs and the gears of reinvention in motion, turning and cranking. Hair spray is being sprayed, sexy dresses are being presented and, for the most part, rejected ("too slutty"), sticks of lip gloss are drawn from back pockets and applied with the swiftness of a cosmetic paramedic. Right now, I am sitting in the midst of Hurricane Lisa, and the forecast only suggests a slight chance of interviewing.

When I'm finally introduced to the folk singer, I make a sympathetic remark about how hard it seems to be back in the saddle again.

Loeb looks at me sharply behind her signature geek glasses and responds, "Back? I never stopped."

And, in truth, she hasn't. When her label sent me her new greatest hits compilation The Very Best of Lisa Loeb, I was surprised to discover that the majority of the songs on the album had been recorded subsequent to the 1994 release of Reality Bites. Long after "Stay (I Missed You)," her first hit single, surprised the nation by being number one on the pop charts (without even the support of a label), Loeb continued touring, recording and hair spraying all the while. Who knew?

But we're not just here to discuss her music. We're here to discuss her scripted/reality show #1 Single. The show's premise: Loeb is single for the first time in twelve years (she's had two consecutive six-year relationships, the latter with Dweezil Zappa) and her biological clock is ticking. Loudly. Like a good Jewish girl, she's looking to settle down and have children. In fact, during the first episode, when her mom speaks about grandchildren, Loeb gets unrepentantly teary. It's a moving moment, and in retrospect, you almost feel guilty for having never set her up with that decent-looking doctor you know from the gym (and he's a dermatologist, so that means he wouldn't have crazy hours).

"So, what kind of guy are you looking for?" I ask.

"Seriously?" she replies.

" I know a lot of people," I say. "You never know."

"A good guy. A funny guy."

"An Ethan Hawke or a Ben Stiller?"

"Um...right now? A Ben Stiller."