Kina Grannis' Fans Go Above and Beyond to Replace the Singer's Stolen Heirloom -- Exclusive Video

Singer-songwriter Kina Grannis may just have the best fans ever. During her first show on her very first tour, Grannis' prized family ukulele was stolen from her car. When the singer's fans caught wind of what had happened they began plotting one of the best gifts an artist could ask for.

Kina recently stopped by AOL Music's offices in New York to talk about her latest pop acoustic album 'Stairwells,' why she felt the need to leave the major label world behind, and why her fans make other street teams look bad. Check out the full interview and an exclusive clip of Kina below.

Tell us about the making of your debut album 'Stairwells?'

Well, originally it came out February of 2010. And then it was re-released through One Haven this past February 2011, so it's kind of had two lives. It's been fun getting it out there and sharing my music with people.

Before 'Stairwells' I had three CDs but they were the kind of CDs you make in a garage when you have no idea what you're doing and then you sell at shows. But I'm still proud of those songs; it was just a different time. This was the first one [I recorded] in a studio and it took a year to make and a lot of time and effort and love.

Watch Our Interview With Kina Grannis

What was the biggest inspiration behind the album?

On a whole, they were just a collection of songs that meant a lot to me at that point in time. And it's called 'Stairwells' because when I went to USC, it was the beginning of me falling in love with writing and playing and singing. I was very shy and I didn't want to interrupt people while they were studying or hanging out so I would retreat to the stairwells and that was kind of my place where I would go and sing forever.

So in a way that's where I grew as an artist. It's where I wrote most of my songs in college. So coming back to 'Stairwells,' when I finally had made my first legit album, I felt I should pay my respects to the stairwells.

So you dropped your label, Interscope, after winning a record deal with them through the Doritos Crash the Super Bowl contest. That's quite a brave feat!

It was definitely the right thing to do. It was a pretty strange move. I remember when I first started talking about it with my friends and family I'd say, "So I'm thinking about leaving Interscope." And they were like "What are you talking about? They are a huge, major label!" I think that was the problem at that point in time. I had all the songs written and they meant so much to me. I was ready to release it to the people that had been supporting me up until that point. They were ready for my music. And for [Interscope] it was more like "OK, let's develop you over the next couple months. Let's have you write with a bunch of Hollywood songwriters and get it going." It didn't feel right because I wanted my music out there, not the music I would make with someone else.

Luckily I could get out of it and they were very nice about everything. So I left. And it was a lot more work than I ever expected. I thought, I'd record an album in three months and then release it the next month. It'll be no problem. But a year later I still thought "what am I doing?" But it was definitely worth it.

I have an amazing support network online with all of the people that have found me. They helped a lot in getting the word out for the release. It was pretty awesome. And making it on Billboard with that first release with no label was amazing.

You're a true YouTube sensation. When did you know that things were getting serious?

I guess it was a gradual thing, because when I started YouTube I had no idea that it could be powerful. It was just a place to put videos and tell people "Oh, you can go watch me sing here." But when people started finding me that I didn't know I thought something was going on. When you put a video up and you have a lot of views going on, it'll stop at like 314 and then hours later it skips to like 1,000 or 2,000. When it started skipping to 10,000 or 20,000 I thought "where are these people coming from?" So the views tell you something's happening. And then to go out and have people say "You're that girl! I watch you're videos" -- that made it real. When I finally started having shows, that was the proof. If people are here and they are singing my songs, I guess that's something, right?

What is the craziest thing that has happened to you on tour?

I did have a ukulele stolen. I learned my lesson to never keep anything in the trunk of a car! It was my first show of my first tour ever and I came out and all of my merch was gone. My grandfather's ukulele was gone. It was terrible. But I tweeted about it, because that's what I do, and there was this crazy amount of love and support from everyone online, like sending flowers to my next venue and the nicest emails ever. I kind of got this beautiful thing out of this terrible thing.

Then a couple months later I go on another tour and the night before I'm told that there's this video I need to watch. And it's like 4AM and I'm so tired. So there's this video and it shows the Kamaka ukulele factory in Hawaii which is where my grandfather's was from. And then the video says "Pause ... no, seriously pause." I pause the video and I'm pointed to a drawer underneath my computer. So I open up the drawer and there's this uke case. I open it and it's the most beautiful Kamaka ukulele I've ever seen with my name in mother of pearl on the neck. I finish watching the video and it's a bunch of my street-teamers doing "heart-hands" and being incredibly cute. And then I cried for 10 minutes straight. And I guess that since it was stolen they just started planning. So they raised all this money and they got me this amazing uke!

Tell us about your song 'Valentine'? Do you think it's a real holiday?

It was the day before Valentine's Day and all of my friends were going out to a party and I'm fairly lame when it comes to things like that so I'm like, "Oh, I'll stay back guys and hang out with myself." So I did and I was messing around on the guitar. Pre-Valentine's Day everyone is talking about all the exciting things they're going to do or how stupid it is -- a stupid Hallmark holiday. So with those things brewing I came up with this song, and it's kind of a two-sided thing. Yes, it is an arbitrary day. It's made-up, I get it. But on the other hand, I'm happy to take an excuse and celebrate the people I love.

You're in the public eye a lot more. Have any famous musicians asked to collaborate with you?

A couple. One person I've been working with over the past couple years is Daniel Bedingfield, who you might know from many years ago. He had some amazing hit songs. He's been writing a ton since then but has been out of the public eye. We wrote some songs together and collaborated. He is just incredibly talented. And then we actually co-wrote a song with David Archuleta. They are both crazy vocalists. And also, I've gotten to know a lot more musicians through YouTube: really talented, nice, amazing people.

What's the next step for you?

Well, I'm touring Europe in the fall, which I'm really excited about because I've never really spent much time there. And I'm starting to think about the next album. I've started writing, and I'm sure I'll be touring for 'Stairwells' still after that. But I definitely want to get back to the creative side and making music again and seeing where the next album takes me.

Watch Kina Grannis' Video for 'Valentine'