Lady of Tomorrow: Amy Obenski
If you're a nascent musician, you may feel as though the likelihood of releasing an album and having it gain nationwide attention must be a struggle bordering on the impossible, even in this era of Myspace superstars.
Well, it's not impossible, and I've got the CD to prove it: Kite, by Amy Obenski.
Photo: Jamie Ibey
Amy Obenski is a Santa Cruz resident (go Slugs!) who had always wanted to be a musician and songwriter, but never got beyond the university choir. After graduation, she got a job in local government in San Jose, but soon realized that what she really wanted to do was become a famous singer. So, one day, she actually did something about it.
After taking a weekend "realize your potential" course, Ms Obenski was inspired to write her first song. Two years later, in 2003, she released her first album, What We Tell. And not long after that, she received a call from an MTV executive; they had heard one of the tracks from What We Tell on somebody's iPod, and wanted to license the music for the MTV show "Made". Eventually, MTV would license all of Amy Obenski's songs, for use on two of their shows.
This incredible story can be found at Amy Obenski's website, linked above, and in this article from the Santa Cruz paper Good Times Weekly.
But back to Kite, Amy Obenski's latest CD. Wait a minute, you're probably saying. It's Folk, and you don't like Folk. Well, let me first clarify that I don't dislike all Folk music; just all Folk music that I've heard. But I like Kite, which means that either A) It's very good Folk; or B) It's very good Amy Obenski music, and we should not be so quick to pigeonhole music into neat little categories. But if you want me to drill-down to proper radio semantics, I would say that Kite is more AAA than Folk, and would be welcome on any station that plays Beth Orton.
What I like about the album is that it does start off very light (musically, if not lyrically), with a raft of coffeehouse-friendly tracks that allow Ms Obenski's comforting voice to, er, comfort us. But then, she surprises us with a mood change that starts with the excellent "Lady of Tomorrow", continues with "Bomb the World" (a cover of a Spearhead song), and plays through much of what would've been called Side B, in the bad-old-days of vinyl.
Don't get me wrong, she doesn't turn into Rage Against the Machine or anything, but there is still a subtle edge to this album, which I heard and appreciated.
But more importantly, Amy Obenski's success as a new artist is impressive, and I hope that it gives other new artists the inspiration to continue trying to make their dreams a reality.
Even if they don't go to the university that has the world's best mascot.
"You guys look like..."
"Dorks. They look like dorks."
The UC Santa Cruz Banana Slug makes its star turn.
( Photo by Linda R. Chen, courtesy of Miramax films)
Well, it's not impossible, and I've got the CD to prove it: Kite, by Amy Obenski.
Photo: Jamie Ibey
Amy Obenski is a Santa Cruz resident (go Slugs!) who had always wanted to be a musician and songwriter, but never got beyond the university choir. After graduation, she got a job in local government in San Jose, but soon realized that what she really wanted to do was become a famous singer. So, one day, she actually did something about it.After taking a weekend "realize your potential" course, Ms Obenski was inspired to write her first song. Two years later, in 2003, she released her first album, What We Tell. And not long after that, she received a call from an MTV executive; they had heard one of the tracks from What We Tell on somebody's iPod, and wanted to license the music for the MTV show "Made". Eventually, MTV would license all of Amy Obenski's songs, for use on two of their shows.
This incredible story can be found at Amy Obenski's website, linked above, and in this article from the Santa Cruz paper Good Times Weekly.
But back to Kite, Amy Obenski's latest CD. Wait a minute, you're probably saying. It's Folk, and you don't like Folk. Well, let me first clarify that I don't dislike all Folk music; just all Folk music that I've heard. But I like Kite, which means that either A) It's very good Folk; or B) It's very good Amy Obenski music, and we should not be so quick to pigeonhole music into neat little categories. But if you want me to drill-down to proper radio semantics, I would say that Kite is more AAA than Folk, and would be welcome on any station that plays Beth Orton.
What I like about the album is that it does start off very light (musically, if not lyrically), with a raft of coffeehouse-friendly tracks that allow Ms Obenski's comforting voice to, er, comfort us. But then, she surprises us with a mood change that starts with the excellent "Lady of Tomorrow", continues with "Bomb the World" (a cover of a Spearhead song), and plays through much of what would've been called Side B, in the bad-old-days of vinyl.
Don't get me wrong, she doesn't turn into Rage Against the Machine or anything, but there is still a subtle edge to this album, which I heard and appreciated.
But more importantly, Amy Obenski's success as a new artist is impressive, and I hope that it gives other new artists the inspiration to continue trying to make their dreams a reality.
Even if they don't go to the university that has the world's best mascot.
"You guys look like..."
"Dorks. They look like dorks."
The UC Santa Cruz Banana Slug makes its star turn.
( Photo by Linda R. Chen, courtesy of Miramax films)
posted by Arhythmius at
11:28 AM
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