With inspiration stemming from an array of genres including jazz, classical, rock and R&B, Obenski’s music lends itself to an eclecticism that is surprisingly organic and natural. Her newest album, From The Deep, features grand piano, cello, viola, bass, drums, mandolin and even accordion. And the instruments are perfectly balanced beneath her sweet and sultry vocals. The lyrics, refreshingly honest and insightful, have been coined as “gripping” by critics.
In 2007 her song, “Carousel”, was heard on the TV show Grey’s Anatomy, taking the song to number twenty-three on the iTunes Folk Chart. Before that, her second album had been receiving play on MTV’s program, MADE, which is still using her music today. Both successes have come to her by surprise. The first album, What We Tell, was discovered by an MTV executive who randomly heard her music on someone’s iPod. A few years later, and on a whim, an editor placed the song from her second album onto Grey’s Anatomy.
Being based out of Santa Cruz, California, Obenski tours mostly through the West Coast of the United States and plays steadily in the San Francisco Bay Area. She’s performed in notable venues such as Biscuits and Blues in San Francisco, Don Quixote’s in Santa Cruz, and has opened for the John Butler Trio in Los Angeles.
Her musical history stretches back to age five, when she began singing in her school choir. She spent her childhood in arts related public schools and started private piano lessons at age seven. While attending UC Santa Cruz she minored in music while acquiring a degree in Environmental Studies. She currently uses both of these skills by creating a series of benefit concerts called Take Back Your Forest. The concerts raise money for The Sempervirens Fund, an organization that protects redwood forest in the Santa Cruz Mountains. |
