Elisa Korenne brings idealism, hustle, and lots of practice to her burgeoning career as a musician. This Friday, the singer songwriter plays at Pianos with a full band to celebrate the release of her debut album, “Favorite” (Edgy and Elegant).

The music ranges from thumping rock to vaudeville to quiet blues. The lyrics are eclectic, with one song about a freakish boy who eats light bulbs and another about a brothel in Butte, Mont.

One constant is Ms. Korenne’s silky voice, which she wraps around the driving guitars and soft percussion with equal ease.

The album’s variety reflects Ms. Korenne’s influences – musical theater, a cappella groups, and Joni Mitchell are a few – and her wariness of the record industry. “I see what the industry is taking and what they’re giving back to the artist, and it was more important to do what I wanted,” she said. (Edgy and Elegant is her own label.)

Ms. Korenne, a Cobble Hill resident, began writing material for the album five years ago, playing at open-mic nights around town. She’d been performing in bands and musical theater since middle school in Yardley, Penn., but had never focused on music full-time.

Instead, Ms. Korenne went to Yale and the London School of Economics. She later founded a nonprofit, Geekcorps, which brought workers from the high-tech industry in America to third-world countries, in an attempt to improve impoverished nations’ infrastructures.

Ms. Korenne’s willingness to experiment is refreshing. She doesn’t feel the need to narrow her focus: She’s more content following her impulse to tell stories about marginal characters. “I’m fascinated by the kind of person who, for example, eats light bulbs, as opposed to a doctor or a lawyer.”

In the end, it is a need to churn out new work that pushes her forward. She has a repertoire of 200 songs. “Volume is everything,” she said. “It’s a path to finding the good stuff.”

Friday, 8-10 p.m., Pianos, 158 Ludlow St., between Rivington and Stanton streets, 212-505-3733, $5 at the door. Ms. Korenne’s CD is $10.